Tale Of A Wolf
by kawasemi
Summary: The hokage always told Sakura that the secrets of her unknown past would reveal themselves. But she didn't expect it to happen during the chuunin exams. Just how much will she change? “Just what am I?” “You’re a member of the Ookamiza clan.”
1. Storm Of Change

Chapter 1

Chapter 1.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto… sadly.

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**Chapter 1:**** Storm Of Change**

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_Prologue_

_The sandaime hokage slowly walked throug__h the forest. Following the navy blue wolf with stunning marine blue eyes, the wolf wanted him to follow and regularly checked if he was still there. As he did once again. Turning his head the wolf looked at the leader of Konohagakure no Sato with intelligent blue eyes… too intelligent._

_The wolf stopped in its tracks, staring at something in front of him. Something that was curled up under a tree. A little pink haired girl, about seven years old. The hokage walked closer and kneeled at the girl's side. The steady breathing and peaceful expression indicated that she was asleep. The hokage turned around again to look at the wolf that had guided him to the girl. But… the wolf had disappeared. Without making a sound, without the hokage, the strongest ninja of Konoha noticing. Definitely no ordinary wolf._

_He looked back at the sleeping girl in front of him. He quickly looked her over for any injuries but found none. __One of her hands was stretched out above her head, as if reaching for something. He looked around and found something glistening in the dim moonlight. A golden necklace with a sandglass attached to it, but the sandglass wasn't filled with sand, it was filled with snow. He shook it a little but the snow didn't move from it's spot in the top half of the sandglass. The hokage lifted an eyebrow, he then noticed the small scroll attached to the necklace. His face turned to one of confusion as he read the message._

'_If you are reading this then I am most likely dead or captured. I trust that my wolf has guided you to my sister. She is most likely the only living member of our clan, I have used a dimensional ninjutsu to teleport her away from the massacre. The side effect of this jutsu will take away all her memories. My younger sister, Sakura is sure to have nowhere left to go now. This necklace is what I used to perform this jutsu. By all means keep this necklace and this scroll away from Sakura. She has to find the answers of her past on her own. Keep an eye on this necklace, because when the last snowflake falls the Storm Of Change will begin and the past will catch up to her._

_Ookamiza Katsurou.'_

_The sandaime looked back at the necklace with newfound interest. He watched as a single snowflake whirled to the bottom half of the sandglass. _

_End Prologue_

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And there she was. Nailed to the ground by Ino's Chakra string made out of her own hair. Unable to move her body, vulnerable to any kind of attack.

"And now Sakura, I will take over your body and make you give up on this match! Shintenshin no Jutsu!"

Shikamaru watched with as much interest as he could muster. "Did she do it?"

Sakura's hand slowly moved up into the air. "I, Haruno Sakura will withdraw from this m-."

"No Sakura-chan! Don't give up on everything you've worked so hard for by losing to this lame Ino girl!!"

Ino scoffed as she looked up from inside Sakura's body. "Stupid Naruto. Aaah!"

Sakura clutched her head and let out an agonized yell.

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Sakura looked around herself. It felt like she was walking in a starry night sky. Millions of stars and constellations swirled around her, trying to outshine each other. It would have been a relaxing place if it wasn't for those two small…planets that were slowly circling around her. They both looked like full moons however one of them seemed to be in the state of a full lunar eclipse while the other glowed brilliant white. She truly had no idea how long she had been there watching those moons, they gave her an ominous feeling.

All of a sudden Ino appeared in front of her in a flash. The blonde gaped at her surroundings and seemed to shudder at the sight of the two moons dancing around them, they made her uncomfortable too.

"Forehead-girl what are you doing!?"

"I'm not doing anything!"

"Don't lie to me I know you're a genjutsu type shinobi! Let me out of this illusion!"

Sakura scoffed. "I'm a genin, Pig. If this was a genjutsu then it would be S-class difficulty. In other words jounin level or higher, there is no way I can perform something like that."

That seemed to shut Ino up. "T-then where are we?"

"Invading someone's mind. Interesting, you should be more careful with what you do girl, your plan might be used against you."

A male voice, soft as velvet and completely emotionless ringed in their ears. Both girls turned to look at the glowing white moon with shock. It didn't take long before Ino screeched. "A talking planet!!"

A dark chuckle came from the other moon, that was still black from the eclipse. "I guess it's true, blonds are dumb. Ito, we finally have the chance to free ourselves, what are we waiting for? I wanna play with Blondie over there."

The other moon replied. "You will only force the girl back into her own body, I don't think our host would appreciate it if you killed the girl, Shiki."

"Tch. I finally awoke from my slumber and you won't even let me have some fun. Ooh well I guess weakening our host right now would be a bad idea, considering what's coming."

Cracks appeared in both of the moons and spread themselves across their surface. The moons broke like eggs. A white wolf appeared from the full moon, it was covered in a sticky fluid but soon opened it's eyes and pierced the girls with its amber gaze. The same thing happened to the eclipsed moon, but this time a black wolf appeared, it gave them a wolf smirk while its dark scarlet eyes radiated evil intent.

Sakura was the first one that found her voice back. "W-who are you?" She eyed both wolves wearily. The black one smirked at her.

"Aah, you'll find out soon enough." The wolves voice sounded strong and masculine, even a bit overconfident. He turned his gaze back to Ino. "The biggest mistake you could possibly make when fighting someone like this girl, is invading her mind. And you're now going to find out why."

The wolf rushed at Ino who seemed to be frozen at her spot. Sakura screamed one last warning "Ino cancel the jutsu already!" Ino didn't seem to hear her, Sakura watched with a horrified expression as the pitch black wolf jumped at her friend, using his claw to slash her abdomen. Sakura heard Ino let out a scream as she faded away from this strange world.

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The audience watched as Sakura's body slumped to the ground. A few moments later Ino's body shot up from the ground, the young Yamanaka let out a scream as suddenly three long, deep gashes appeared on her abdomen.

Everyone seemed to be startled at the amount of blood pooling at he feet of the blonde. Everyone except Gaara, his hands started shaking and his breathing became irregular. His siblings immediately took that as a bad sign. Temari was the first to gather the courage to ask her little brother.

"Gaara, what's wrong?"

"Something's coming… and it's strong."

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Sakura looked at the black wolf, angry tears in her eyes. "What did you do to Ino?!"

The wolf looked at her and rolled it's scarlet eyes. "Sent her back to her own body."

The white one looked at the black one emotionlessly. "It's time, Shiki."

Sakura glanced at the two wolves. "Time for what?"

The white wolf, Ito if she remembered correctly. Silenced the black one, Shiki with a slight glare before directing his attention to Sakura.

"Time for change, and time for the truth to reveal itself."

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The third hokage who had been watching with interest reached in one of his pockets, his hand grasped something that felt like cold metal. He pulled out the necklace of Ookamiza Katsurou, it was colder than normal. Over the years many of the snowflakes had made their way to the bottom half of the sandglass, he was aware that the Storm Of Change would occur soon. He watched as the last snowflake whirled to the bottom half of the sandglass.

The exam proctor looked from one girl to the other. Ino stood there, holding her heavily bleeding abdomen. Sakura sat there and finally stirred a little, and looked up at Ino. The blonde looked at her; fear, hate and loathing surfaced in her baby blue eyes, all those feeling directed at Sakura.

"W-what in the world are you!! Y-you freak!"

Naruto froze at his spot, that's how they used to look at him. Fear, loathing, hate all of them had that look, the whole village. Freak, that's what they used to call him, and many still did call him that. Then why did Sakura deserve that look in Ino's eyes? They were friends!

Ino still glared at the girl in front of her. And only now she noticed how the temperature in the room started to drop, she looked around. Everyone's breath appeared in small clouds and some people had goose bumps covering their bare skin. And that's when she saw it… _snow._

It was snowing in the room. She looked back at Sakura, who still was looking at her, unaffected by her words or looks of hatred. In fact Sakura's eyes seemed… empty, they stared dully into nothingness. If it weren't for the sound of calm, steady breathing she would have thought the pink haired girl was dead. But a dangerous presence seemed to radiate from Sakura's body.

The ground underneath Sakura started rippling. Three small icebergs surrounded the girl in a triangle. Ino looked closer and realized that there was something inside all three of the masses of frozen water, three identical grey wolf pups.

As soon as the icebergs fully emerged from the ground the rippling stopped.

Naruto turned around to face Kakashi. "Kakashi-sensei what's happening to Sakura-chan?"

Kakashi lifted his headband to reveal his sharingan. "I don't know Naruto, I don't know."

Sakura's eyes remained lifeless as they seemed to change. Her iris turned from emerald to turquoise and her pupil turned white, in her iris one small white petal seemed to appear.

Kiba let out a gasp. "Impossible!"

Everyone looked at him. Kurenai broke the silence. "What is it Kiba?"

"T-those eyes!"

Kakashi gave Kiba his full attention. "You've seen them before?"

Kiba shook his head weakly. "N-no, but I've heard about them. They're called getsugan. This one is still in an early stage, there's supposed to be four petals. These eyes belonged to an ancient clan, a clan that used wolves in battle. They were said to have disappeared a long time ago, the Ookamiza clan. They are the ancestors of the Inuzuka, my clan."

Everyone quietly processed the information they just got, surprisingly Hinata broke the uncomfortable silence.

"S-so Kiba-kun y-you're related to Sakura-san?"

Kiba nodded his head and Akamaru barked in agreement.

Naruto's jaw dropped. "Nani!! You're related to Sakura-chan!?"

Kakashi turned back to the fight between Sakura and Ino. "So those wolves in the icebergs…"

"Are Sakura's own wolves." Kiba finished.

The wind picked up and became more violent. Many people shielded their eyes from the strong gusts and snow. A snowstorm seemed to fill the room. Everyone tried to keep an eye on Sakura, but that became difficult as the wind and snow clouded their vision on the battlefield. All of a sudden the snow stopped moving, trapping Sakura and the three icebergs like a cocoon. A few moments later the snow flew away in all directions.

"I-is that Sakura-chan?"

Kiba swallowed. "Yep, definitely an Ookamiza."

"What is happening to my youthful blossom?"

"Woa!... How… Troublesome."

Sakura sat on all fours. Her appearance had changed drastically, a pair of fangs showed from her slightly opened mouth. Her hair suddenly reached her elbows and turned black with pink highlights. Her 'getsugan' was deactivated. Her eyes were emerald once again. But they weren't the same, they had an animalistic glint in them, a lot like wolf eyes. The hitai ite that had been tied to her forehead during the battle fell from it's place and hit the ground, a black seal shaped like a crescent moon appeared on her forehead. She seemed tired and was breathing heavily.

The three icebergs had disappeared, leaving behind the three young wolves. They had difficulties with standing on their own legs, muscles sore and painful from being in the icebergs. Small pieces of ice were still stuck to their grey fur. The wolves made their way over to Sakura. One of them made a series of barks and low growls. Sakura understood them perfectly, much to her own surprise.

"_Sakura… is that you?"_

"Y-you know my name?"

The pup nodded. Sakura suddenly felt a flash of pain shoot through her head, she remembered something, something from her past! She sniffed the air on instinct, her sense of smell seemed so much stronger all of a sudden. Then turned to the wolves.

"Bakura… Arashi… Hyouga…"

The wolves barked happily and softly bit in the flesh of her arms as a sign of wolf greeting. Sakura smiled slightly. She didn't know how she remembered this, she had no memory when she was found by the sandaime hokage when she was seven. But she was happy to finally have a link to her past. She looked in front of her finally realizing the stench of blood, her eyes widened. She got up from the ground, stumbling a bit. Whatever had just happened, it had weakened her.

"Ino?"

Ino was shivering from the cold and blood loss. When Sakura took a hesitant step forward Ino reacted immediately.

"N-no! Stay away from me! Y-you're not normal!!"

Sakura let out a startled gasp at the words and hateful glare of Ino.

"Ino… I never meant to do something like that to you." Sakura looked down at her feet. Her hands fisted themselves at her sides. Just who were Ito and Shiki… and who was she?

A cough echoed through the room. Sakura looked up again, the cough came from Ino and was accompanied by blood that dripped from her mouth to her chin. The exam proctor coughed.

"Since she is no longer in the condition to keep on fighting, Yamanaka Ino loses this battle. The winner is Haruno Sakura."

Sakura sighed. Sure she had wanted to win… but not this way. She had wanted to prove herself, show everyone she wasn't weak. Not make them think she was a monster! A fight where she had wanted to change herself, to not be that weak little girl that followed Sasuke wherever he went. Well changing herself was something she sure did… But what had she become? She watched as the medics put Ino on a stretcher and how they cleaned up her blood from the floor.

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Sakura made her way back to her team. The three little wolves followed her, and respected the fact that she needed to think for a bit so they stayed silent. Sakura never once looked up from her feet, one of the wolves, Hyouga had picked up her hitai ite and carried it with his fangs. Sakura stopped in front of her teammates, still not looking up from her feet.

"Hey…"

Everyone seemed to feel uncomfortable, Naruto decided to break the silence.

"Hey… You okay?"

"That look in her eyes, I've seen it before. Only it wasn't directed at me."

Sakura finally tore her gaze away from her feet to look at her teammate.

"It was directed at you."

Now it was Naruto's turn to look at his feet. Sakura never even imagined she would do this, but she did. She stepped forward and _hugged _Naruto. He seemed a little uncomfortable at first but eventually hugged back. She whispered so only Naruto could hear what she said next.

"I hope you'll tell me someday why they look at you like that."

She stepped away from Naruto. He gave her a weak grin. She looked at the others, all of their eyes were directed at her. It made her feel uneasy.

"I… I think I'll go to the bathroom."

Kakashi nodded.

"Will you be alright on your own, my youthful blossom?"

Sakura sighed. "It's the bathroom, Lee. I think I'll be fine."

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Sakura almost let out a scream when she saw just how much she had changed in the reflection of the mirror.

"_What's wrong?"_

Sakura turned around quickly, the wolves had followed her. She answered Arashi's question.

"I uhhm. I didn't expect to have changed so much in appearance as well."

She sat down against one of the walls. This was so confusing.

"Just what am I?"

"_You're a member of the Ookamiza clan." _Bakura answered for her.

Sakura looked at the wolves. "You three seem to know a lot about all this. Do you know anything about my past?"

All three wolves dropped their ears to their neck, a way for wolves to say no.

"_We somehow lost our memory."_

Sakura felt a little disappointment at that. But that was soon replaced by new questions. How could she understand wolf language and gestures? And why was her sense of smell so strong all of a sudden?

"Then do you know why I can understand wolves or why my nose is so sharp all of a sudden?"

Hyouga answered her questions. _"All Ookamizas are born with a strong sense of smell and the ability to communicate with wolves, as well as a kekkei genkai called getsugan."_

This perked Sakura's interest. "Getsugan?"

Hyouga nodded once again. _"We don't know much about it. __It's a doujutsu, an__ eye__ technique. __It allows you to see auras of your opponents, the auras turn to different colours when the emotions of your opponents change. You know how your opponent feels all the time. The getsugan also does something else, and this can be quite hard on the user. It gives them a split personality. One for the left eye and one for the right eye. They both take the shapes of wolves, it is important that they balance each other, if they don't you'll become mentally unstable." _

"So how do I know if they balance each other?" Sakura asked nervously.

Bakura spoke this time. _"I'm sure you've met them when you awakened your kekkei genkai. What did they look like?"_

"One was black and the other was white."

Bakura nodded his furry head. _"Opposites, don't worry they're stable. You need a black one and a white one in order to stay sane. If an Ookamiza has two white wolves then they are in danger of having their mind destroyed. That is the ability of the white wolves, to torture someone's mind. If they have two black wolves then they are in danger of having their bodies destroyed. The black wolves have the ability to torture someone's body. But when the getsugan is in its final state you can use those wolves to attack your opponent."_

Sakura leaned her head back against the wall. This was almost too much information to take in. Her head felt heavy as well as her stomach. Arashi seemed to notice something was wrong.

"_Sakura… __You look pale."_

Sakura jumped up and ran to one of the toilets and emptied her stomach. "Damnit." She flushed the toilet once she was done and walked to the sink. She continuously splashed water in her face, almost hoping that it would wash away all things that troubled her right now. She looked up again and noticed someone standing in the doorway, that sand girl. Temari or something.

"Hey."

If there was anything Sakura didn't feel like doing at the moment it was talking. "What do you want?"

"No reason to snap at me. I just came to congratulate you. After all I just won my own match, and I'm guessing that we'll be the only kunoichi in the final round."

Sakura's eyes widened slightly. "You won rather quickly."

"My opponent wasn't too strong, the battle was over rather quickly and it definitely wasn't as interesting as yours. Everyone wants to know just who you are."

Sakura had a knowing look in her eyes. "So you came to gather information in case you end up fighting me in the final rounds. Well I'm Sakura, that's all you need to know."

Temari scoffed and walked away but before she disappeared out of sight she said some last words.

"I doubt you even know any more about yourself at the moment."

Sakura looked back at the mirror looking in her own, now animalistic emerald eyes. Temari was right. Her name was all she knew about herself right now.

She used her fingers to trace the crescent moon on her forehead. For some reason she felt the need to hide that symbol from others. There was something just not right about it. Something poked her leg. She looked down to see Hyouga, with her hitai ite between his fangs. As if reading her mind he spoke.

"_You __can use this to cover that seal." _

Sakura did as the young wolf suggested and tied the hitai ite around her forehead. She took one last glance at her new appearance before heading back to the arena, wolves trailing behind her.

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The winners of all matches were now lined up. As the rules were explained to them. Sakura still shuddered as she remembered how Neji and Gaara won their fights. The killing intent had been incredibly strong, they were definitely the ones Sakura wouldn't want to go up against. She was brought back to reality when she took a number from the box that Anko was holding. Ibiki spoke.

"Okay, from left to right tell me your numbers."

Dosu was first. "Ten."

Next was Naruto. "Number one."

Then Sakura herself. "I've got nine."

Temari. "Seven."

Kankuro. "Five."

Gaara. "Three."

Shikamaru. "Eight."

Neji. "Two."

Shino. "Six."

Ibiki nodded. "So that makes Sasuke number four."

After some writing he turned his notepad around. "These are the match ups for the finals:

First battle: Uzumaki Naruto and Hyuuga Neji.

Second battle: Subaku no Gaara and Uchiha Sasuke.

Third battle: Subaku no Kankuro and Aburame Shino.

Fourth battle: Subaku no Temari and Nara Shikamaru.

Fifth battle: Ookamiza Sakura and Kinuta Dosu."

Sakura swallowed the lump in her throat. She had one month to become strong enough to fight that sound ninja. And Sasuke… he was up against Gaara, that was sure to be one hell of a fight. Same for Naruto and Neji.

The soft brush of fur against her legs calmed her down. She wouldn't be fighting alone. She listened to the questions the other genin asked and to the answers from the hokage. Once everything was clear everyone prepared to leave and go back to the village. This was sure going to be one of the hardest months in her life.

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End of chapter 1.

Hope you liked it, please review : )

Just to make things a little clearer:

Ookami (in Ookamiza) means wolf

Getsugan means moon eyes


	2. Long Lost Memories

Chapter 2.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto… I wouldn't be wasting my time with these stupid disclaimers if I did!

**Huggles-chan(I'm going to call you that from now on.): **Thanks for your review! You made me really happy. And yes I was planning to eventually make this a GaaxSaku(they're my favorite couple). But it will take a while before I do that.

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**Chapter 2:**** Long lost memories**

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The chuunin exams had been exhausting. They arrived at the village at about five o clock, after some grocery shopping with her new companions Sakura went to her own apartment. The apartment she had gotten from the hokage after she was found in the forest.

The three wolves had been very insulted when she had tried to buy dog food for them. So she had decided to buy four steaks for tonight. After putting away all the other stuff she took out their dinner for tonight. Casting a glance over her shoulder she saw that Bakura and Hyouga were exploring her tiny apartment while Arashi stood behind her, wagging his tail as he waited for his dinner.

Turning around again she turned on the stove and prepared to cook the raw meat. Arashi growled behind her. Sakura turned around to look at the pup, his head leaned to the side in a questioning way.

"_What are you doing? You're supposed to eat it raw."_

"What!? Eat a raw steak? I don't have the same kind of teeth you do."

Hyouga walked up to them, giving Sakura a blank stare. _"You do actually."_

Sakura's hand shot to her mouth, her finger running over her fangs. Before stating dumbly. "I have fangs…"

Arashi yapped happily. _"Yep, you do! Some of your cells are identical to those of a wolf. That's why you have fangs and why your nose is so strong."_

"So I should eat raw meat as well."

Bakura came back from his little tour around the apartment. _"You don't have to, but I suggest you do. It tastes great!"_

Hyouga nodded. Sakura sighed and put the steaks on four plates, putting three of them on the ground. She watched as the wolves devoured the meat before turning to her own plate. And took a hesitant bite. The wolves were right, it did taste great! It took Sakura about a minute to devour her own food and she started licking her fingers as soon as she was finished. In the corner of her eyes she noticed three pair of amber eyes staring at her. Arashi gave her a wolf grin.

"_Wow. Your table manners are just as good as ours."_

Sakura sighed. And washed the empty plates. "Let's go to bed."

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She was back in that night sky world, Ito and Shiki standing in front of her. The latter gave her a knowing smirk.

"You look a lot better now you have had your little transformation."

Sakura's eyes narrowed. "Why am I here?"

Ito walked forward and started to walk around her in circles. She glanced at him nervously as he was studying her with a calculating gaze. "Tell me Sakura, what is it you want most in your life?"

"Uhhm… for Sasuke-kun to accept me." Her words came out hesitantly. The look Ito gave her made her doubt her own words. Even though she had wanted nothing else for years.

The wolf's haunting eyes stayed focused on her as he stilled his movements. "I doubt that."

"And how would you know what I want!?"

"I am you. A split personality, you have no secrets for Shiki or me. I know what you really want even if you don't know it yourself."

"Then what do I want the most?"

Shiki moved towards her, scarlet eyes as sharp as ever. "Power."

"Sakura, do you know why that is? Why you desire power?"

Sakura picked her words carefully. "To prove myself to everyone. To change myself."

"To change yourself into what?" Sakura looked at Ito, once again choosing the right words.

"To change into someone who can fight her own fights. And someone who can protect her precious people." She said confidently.

Shiki yawned lazily. "You better remember this conversation, because you will need to change once you wake up. After all we are about to offer you something that you will definitely not refuse."

"And what would that be?"

"Memories of your past. However in order to gain those, we will put a mark on your skin. A mark to symbolize your greatest emotional strength. Do you accept this?" Ito had barely even finished his sentence when he got his reply.

"I accept."

Shiki smirked. "Told ya."

The stars started to spin around until they formed a whirlwind of light that surrounded Sakura. The two wolves disappeared and soon enough Sakura watched a four year old girl with animalistic emerald eyes and black hair with pink highlights.

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Sakura followed her younger self. She was in what seemed to be a fairly big tent made out of fur that belonged to a deer or something. A small fire stood in the middle of the tent, a sleeping bag of the same material as the tent was placed at a safe distance from the fire. A few pots made out of clay were placed on a wooden table. The first one was filled with hazelnuts and walnuts, the second one was filled with herbs and berries, the third one had a lid on it but the smell of dried meat lingered around it and the fourth one was filled with water. After studying her surroundings Sakura finally realized the sound of the howling wind coming from outside, a storm.

She looked back at her younger self and was just in time to notice the crescent moon on her forehead before it was covered with a black ribbon. She heard footsteps from outside and soon enough two people with tribal masks that looked like wolves entered the room. The taller one, took of his mask. A handsome boy, probably ten years old smiled at her. He had spiky light blue hair and the same emerald eyes as her. The little Sakura squealed happily. "Katsurou-oniisan!"

She ran up hugging her older brother while the thirteen year old Sakura watched with her mouth agape. She had a brother! The second person took of her mask, a girl who was just a few years older than her younger self with the same light blue hair as the boy and once again the same emerald eyes grinned at the little Sakura, fangs clearly visible. "Harumi-neechan!"

Once again Sakura's heart leapt with joy, she had a sister as well! After hugging both of them the boy, Katsurou spoke. "Come on, we don't want to be late. Your getting your wolves today Sakura."

Harumi's grin was replaced for a serious look. "Yeah, kaasan will get cranky if we are late."

The little Sakura grabbed a cloak and afterwards a mask. Sakura noticed that it was the same as the ones that belonged to her siblings, however this one had a crescent moon on the forehead. The others put their masks on as well. The three stepped outside the tent in a snowstorm.

Sakura followed the three, she was glad it was just a memory. If she was in this place for real she would freeze to death for sure. They were in the mountains and their surroundings were covered with snow, a lot of the same tents stood everywhere. Sakura came to the conclusion that each tent only had one inhabitant.

They arrived at a cave that was lit by torches. Pictures of wolves were drawn on the walls. In the middle of the cave was another deer skin placed on the ground like a mat. A woman was seated bedside it, her hair reached her waist and was the same colour as Sakura's: black with pink highlights. She opened her eyes to look at the three that had just walked into the cave and smiled. "Sit down Sakura-chan."

"Hai, kaasan."

Her younger self sat down on the mat of deer skin and took of her mask. Her mother took a bowl filled with green clay and dipped her fingers in it. With her fingers she drew symbols on Sakura's face. Sakura watched her mother interact with her younger self, tears brimming in her eyes. How much she wished that she could meet these people, her own family.

Footsteps came from the entrance of the cave. An old man walked into the cave, with a bundle in his arms. The bundle seemed to move and every now and then made a small growl. Sakura watched how the man put the bundle down in front of the younger Sakura, who was now decorated with clay. He took away the blankets, that were once again made out of animal skin. Three fluffy, grey wolf pups stared at her younger self innocently. All three of them stumbled over to the little girl, who was watching them with an excited look. The pups started sniffing at her. Although Sakura was still crying she let out a small laugh as she watched her first encounter with Arashi, Bakura and Hyouga. They already had their own unique smell, apparently her younger self thought the same as she was sniffing the wolves as well.

The old man chuckled. "Well you take good care of them, Sakura?"

"I will jiji."

Sakura allowed herself to give a sad smile, that old man was her grandfather. The old man nodded and turned to Sakura's mother.

"Sayuri, are you ready for the ritual?"

Her mother smiled. "I am toosan."

Apparently her younger self was just as confused as Sakura herself. "Ritual?"

Katsurou walked forward and kneeled next to his little sister. He pulled up the left sleeve of his cloak. On his left underarm were three pawprint shaped seals.

"Sakura, you know our clan has been hiding in the mountains for quite a long time now. Do you know why?" The little girl looked at her brother and shook her head. Katsurou continued.

"Many people are looking for the Ookamiza clan because of our power. We have the getsugan, a strong kekkei genkai. And we are the founders of the beast mimicry ninjutsu. Besides people looking for us to gain power there are also people who hold grudges against us, which can be for various reasons." He took a deep breath before continuing.

"We chose this place to hide because nobody goes here, the chance they would die in a snowstorm or run out of food is too great. The nearest forest is a few kilometres away, that is where we get our food. But there are still times that a member or wolf of our clan gets sick or injured. That is when we have go to town to get medicine, but if we walk around there with wolves following our every move we will most likely be discovered. So we developed a jutsu that allows our wolves to be sealed away in our own body. But we are still able to summon them all the time. Here I'll show you."

Katsurou bit his right thumb and drew a line of blood over all three of the pawprints. He performed a few quick handsigns and slammed his left hand into the ground. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

Three puffs of smoke appeared and left behind three navy blue wolves with marine blue eyes. The younger Sakura seemed to know the wolves. "Hey guys!"

The wolves looked from Sakura to the grey wolf pups. One of the wolves spoke. "So these fluffballs are your partners Sakura?"

The older Sakura lifted an eyebrow. This wolf spoke like a human. One of the other navy blue wolves glared at the one that had just given the 'fluffballs' comment. "Ooh don't be mean Hideki. They're gorgeous!"

Apparently this one spoke like the humans could too. This was also the first female wolf Sakura had seen. Hideki scoffed. "Come on Cho. They do look like fluffballs."

"Probably not anymore than you did when you were a pup." The two wolves looked at the third who had just joined the conversation.

Sakura's grandfather chuckled. "Isamu is right Hideki. In fact I think you were the fluffiest little wolf I have ever seen."

"Masaru-sama." Hideki grumbled, in the most respectful way he could. The three navy blue wolves bowed to the old man.

"No need to bow you three." The wolves lifted their heads. Cho cocked her head sideways.

"But Katsurou-chan told us that we should treat you respectfully as you are the leader of the Ookamiza clan."

Katsurou's ears turned red. "Cho, I told you not to call me that. Agh, we're supposed to do that ritual." He held his arm out in front of him. The three wolves turned into visible clouds of chakra and returned to his arm, causing the three pawprints to appear once again.

"So uhmm. You can chose how many of your wolves you summon at a time. But you'll need to give them some freedom at least once a day. And I suggest you don't keep them sealed in your arm when you go to sleep. It hurts like hell when you wake up."

Sayuri's eyes narrowed. "No swearing Kasturou!"

"Sorry kaasan."

Sakura's grandfather, Masaru looked at his youngest grandchild. "But you need to know this. You and these wolves will be bound together for the rest of your life. Because of this sealing jutsu we're about to perform you will be responsible for the lives of these wolves."

"What do you mean jiji?"

"You will be able to live on if your wolves die, however if you die your wolves will die with you."

"But that's unfair!"

"It does sound that way, both your mother and siblings said the same thing when I told them. But a wolf normally dies at the age of twelve at most, with this ritual your wolves will stay alive as long as you are alive, unless they die in battle. And they won't be affected by their old age."

"Oh, than I guess it is okay."

Sayuri smiled at her daughter. "Time for the ritual. It will be painful, Sakura but you'll be all right."

Sayuri pulled out a paintbrush and dipped it in the same wet clay. She asked Sakura to lay down and give her left arm. The older Sakura watched as three pawprints were drawn on the skin of her younger self's left arm. The pale green clay on her skin dried quickly. Her mother then drew a stripe of the green clay on all three the foreheads of her wolves. The wolves sat in a triangle around Sakura and her mother. Sayuri closed her eyes and reopened them showing of a perfectly developed getsugan. The older Sakura gaped and made a mental note to try out if she had those eyes as soon as she woke up. Sayuri made some quick hadsigns and pressed a hand on Sakura's forehead.

The three wolf pups turned into chakra clouds and flew in the direction of Sakura. Harumi ran to her sister's side and squeezed her right hand reassuringly. The little girl let out a scream as the chakra of the wolves touched the skin on her left arm that was covered with the dried clay.

After all the chakra disappeared in her tiny arm the clay was no longer there. There were three burns shaped like pawprints, a bit of smoke still came from the wounds. Sayuri grabbed another bowl that was filled with black ink. She poured the substance carefully into the wounds.

Soon enough the pawprints were one with her skin.

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A flash of light occurred and Sakura found herself in a foreign tent. She noticed two sleeping bags instead of one, one of them was occupied by her younger self. She seemed about a year older than in the last memory, five years old she guessed. And she was suffering from a high fever, sweat kept forming on her forehead and her face red from the warmth.

Her mother entered the tent, a few herbs in her hand. She sighed and looked at Sakura. "I'll make your medicine now, you should have been more careful."

The sick girl frowned weakly. "I didn't know the ice would break if I jumped on it."

Her mother smiled at her. "You're just as reckless as your sister was when she was your age."

Sakura grinned weakly. "I'll have to thank Hibiki when I get better, he saved me by fishing me out of the lake."

Her mother nodded. "He is a good cousin for you."

Once again Sakura felt happy that she had once had a cousin. "Kaasan, where is my father?"

The older Sakura as well as her mother stiffened. "Why do you ask?"

"Well all the kids here have a father and well I have no idea who my father is."

Sayuri sighed and helped her daughter to drink the tea she had made out of the herbs. As soon as she finished she put the cup away and looked at the fire.

"Your father was a ninja from Sunagakure no Sato. The clan gave me a mission, I had to kill a group of scientists who were using wolves as experiments. I had to go all the way to the Tea Country. Once I was at their hidden laboratory I had to fight a group of grass ninja. They injured me and my wolves quite badly, still I found the scientists and killed them and freed the wolves. I left the building, my injuries were bad I knew I wouldn't make it. And with me my wolves would die too. We decided we would die in the forest. I fell asleep and thought I would never wake up again. And yet I did.

I woke up in a tent, with a sand nin sitting next to me. My wolves were outside, I could smell them. My wounds were bandaged but I still was weak. The sand nin said that he had been sent to kill those same scientists and said that he would heal me as a sign of his gratefulness. It took a long time before I was healed but when I finally had recovered we had already fallen in love. He came to live with me and our clan."

She looked at Sakura, who was watching her intently. "When I was expecting you our village was attacked by a large group of ninja. Because I was in no state to fight he told me to stay, together with your brother and sister. He told me that he was sure you would be a girl and that he wanted your name to be Sakura. He fought the ones that had infiltrated our territory, but he never returned."

Her younger self looked at her mother. "What was his name kaasan?"

Her mother didn't look up as she answered. "His name was Matsuda Riku."

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Another flash and once again Sakura found herself in another long lost memory.

She was in the cave again, together with her grandfather. They were eating some berries and walnuts while they watched Bakura, Arashi and Hyouga play with a bone that had once belonged to a bird of some sort. The three pups had matured a bit, their fur wasn't as soft as it had been in the first memory and they could run very well.

Her younger self turned around to face the leader of the Ookamiza clan. "Jiji, do you know why I have this mark on my forehead?"

She asked indicating to the crescent moon on her forehead. Sakura had been asking herself that question as well. The old man looked at her with a pained expression.

"Our clan has some special techniques that we can't use in battle, shaman techniques. Only a few members will actually be able to use them, your mother, your brother and myself are some of them. Shaman techniques allow you to be one with nature and its spirits. The animals, the trees, and even elemental spirits as well as demons. It allows you to sense when and where a natural disaster will occur through meditation. One day when I was meditating the spirits whispered a message to me. A snowstorm was coming, a snowstorm with an elemental spirit in it. It was craving for blood and destruction and a few days later it attacked our village with its full strength."

Sakura nodded her head. "And than you saved the village from the storm with shaman jutsu. That's what everyone says."

"And they're all wrong. I didn't save the village, you did."

The little girl blinked. "I did?"

"You were born the moment the snowspirit attacked. Your mother realized that that storm would destroy us all unless she would let me seal the snowspirit within you."

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Another flash. This time her younger self was seven years old, was hurrying to get her cloak on. Someone rushed into her house, thirteen year old Katsurou.

"Hurry Sakura!"

"Hai!"

Together they ran outside where she saw her mother fight a group of ninja alongside three black wolves with orange eyes. "Hurry you two!"

Katsurou carried Sakura as he ran. "Niisan, where is Harumi-neechan?"

"I don't know. We can't find her."

They kept on running and the older Sakura kept following. Many of the tents they passed were destroyed or burning down. The stench of blood was everywhere as well as the bodies of the attackers, the Ookamizas and the wolves. And that was when realisation downed upon her. She was reliving the massacre of her own clan! That thought alone was enough to make tears appear again.

"How long are you planning to run?"

That voice! While her younger self and her brother turned around quickly it took Sakura all her courage to even look at this men. When she finally did she couldn't stifle her horrified gasp. Orochimaru.

The snake sannin lifted his hand, and a snake shot out of his sleeve. The seven years old Sakura let out a scream. But before the snake could reach them a white wolf appeared out of nowhere and crushed the snake's neck with his powerful fangs.

The wolf let go of the dead snake and turned to Orochimaru. His upper lip curled up as he growled at the men that had attacked their clan, blood dripped from his fangs. Three puffs of smoke appeared and left two other white wolves and her grandfather. Orochimaru licked his lips. "Ookamiza Masaru."

One of the wolves turned around and shouted at them. "What are you two waiting for!? Run already!"

The little Sakura shouted back, tears already streaming down her face. "I'm not leaving jiji behind!"

"Sakura I'll be fine." Her grandfather was as calm as ever, even in front of this powerful opponent. Orochimaru sneered.

"Ooh you won't be old man! You'll be dead before you know it!"

"You'd be a fool to underestimate me! Even if I am old!" He made a series of quick handsigns. "Ookamiza Ryuu Jinjuu Konbi Henge: Shikonrou!"

An enormous smoke cloud appeared. As soon as it disappeared a huge, monstrous white wolf with four tails and fully developed getsugan eyes became visible.

Orochimaru smirked. "Very nice."

Before they could witness the battle Katsurou turned around and ran. When they were at a safe distance from the battle he put Sakura down. "Sakura I'm going to use shaman jutsu to teleport you away from this place."

"Niisan I wanna stay with you!"

"If I survive Sakura, I'll come looking for you. But I want to be sure that I was able to save at least one of my sisters. I'm sorry."

The older Sakura watched with tears in her eyes how her brother hit a pressure point that would make her lose consciousness. Then everything went black.

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Sakura woke up, breathing heavily. She was sweating and her head was throbbing. Then she noticed the wet cloth on her forehead, as well as someone setting next to her.

"Glad you woke up."

"Kiba?"

The boy grinned at her. "I was planning to visit you. I came here at ten o clock but you didn't wake up no matter what I did and you were crying in your sleep. I already fed your wolves."

Sakura sat up and furiously blinked away the tears that brimmed in her eyes as she realized just how much new information she had. Her grandfather had been the leader of the Ookamiza clan, her father was from Suna, she once had a brother and a sister, she had a snowspirit sealed inside of her, Orochimaru had killed her clan… so much for not crying in front of Kiba.

Sakura let out a choked sob before the tears started to flow uncontrollably. Kiba seemed startled. "Hey uhh what happened?"

"I…I…" She couldn't say it… she just couldn't. Luckily Kiba seemed to realize that.

"It's okay, you don't have to tell me." He sat there and let her cry, while rubbing her arm in a comforting way. After a while Sakura's sobbing stopped and she calmed down. She shifted a little, looking down at her lap.

"Thanks Kiba."

"Don't worry about it."

He took a deep breath and rubbed the back of his head. "So uhhm… Well when I got home I told my mom about you and Ino's fight. While I was explaining everything Kakashi walked in."

Sakura looked up and directed her eyes, which were still red from crying at Kiba. "Kakashi-sensei?"

"Yeah, he said he needed a trainer for you, seeing as you're one of the finalists for the chuunin exams. He had to train Sasuke himself and he already had a trainer for Naruto. He said that since both our clans use beast mimicry an Inuzuka would be the best trainer. My mother had been thinking the same thing, we still use some of the techniques the Ookamiza used so we could teach you."

"The same techniques as the Ookamiza?"

"Yeah, the Ookamiza are the ancestors of the Inuzuka."

Sakura's eyes widened. "But that would mean we're distantly related!"

Kiba grinned. "Yep, we are. Now pack your stuff, you'll be living with us during your training."

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End of chapter 2.

Ookamiza Ryuu Jinjuu Konbi Henge: Shikonrou - Ookamiza style man beast combined transformation: four souls wolf

Hope you liked it. And don't forget to review!!


	3. Wolf

Chapter 3

Chapter 3.

Disclaimer: I STILL do not own Naruto!

Sorry the update is so late, I wanted to wait until I had some more reviews before posting a next chapter. Plus I've been very busy with school. Please forgive me.

**Huggles-chan:** Once again thanks for the review!

**Sadistic-Bitch: **Sorry the update is late, hope you didn't go BOOM yet…

**The-Trapped-Phoenix, ArjunaAnja, UsaginoHana:** Thanks for your reviews as well!

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**Chapter 3:**** Wolf**

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Sakura stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around her wet body. She had wordlessly agreed with Kiba that he would wait in the kitchen while she showered and packed her bag for her stay in the Inuzuka compound.

She quickly dried herself and reached for her usual ninja attire. As she began dressing herself she noticed something on her right upper arm, the kanji of loyalty: 忠.

_Flashback._

"_Memories of your past. However in order to gain those, we will put a mark on your skin. A mark to symbolize your greatest emotional strength. Do you accept this?" Ito had barely even finished his sentence when he got his reply._

"_I accept."_

_End Flashback._

So loyalty was her greatest emotional strength. She smiled to herself as she pulled the rest of her clothes on. The sleeve of her attire just covered the black symbol. She blow dried and brushed her long pink and black hair. When suddenly a thought entered her mind. She hadn't tried out the getsugan yet.

She put down her hairbrush and closed her eyes in concentration. She let her chakra flow to her eyes and opened her eyes again. In the mirror she could see that her irises had turned turquoise and her pupil white, one white petal had appeared in each iris.

She felt excitement flow through her, she had a kekkei genkai. In her memories she had seen that her mother had four petals in her eyes. Sakura came to the conclusion that her own getsugan was still in its early stage. She might gain some more petals if she trained with these eyes.

She stopped the steady flow of chakra to her eyes and watched as they turned back to her animalistic emerald orbs. She took her hitai ite and wrapped it around her forehead, she was even more uncomfortable showing the seal now she knew what it meant.

Walking back to her room she began to pack her things.

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"I'm home!"

Kiba's yell got a lot of attention. A group of about eight dogs ran up to them, barking happily. Sakura understood what they said.

"_Where have you been Kiba?"_

"_Who's the girl? She's pretty."_

"_I smell wolves…"_

"_Is she your mate?"_

"Wha- No! She's not my mate!"

Another dog walked into the room. He looked a lot like a wolf, his left ear and right eye were missing. Overall he looked quite intimidating. The dog spoke grabbing the attention of all the others in the room.

"Back off. Tsume would like to speak to our guest."

So the Inuzuka had dogs that could talk like humans as well! The other dogs clearly had a lot of respect for this dog. The whole group that had welcomed them quickly disappeared. The dog turned his attention to Kiba, Sakura and their canine companions.

"Please follow me."

They did as told and followed the dog to a rather large kitchen. A woman was seated at a table surrounded by four chairs. Sakura was almost sure that she was Kiba's mother.

The woman looked at the people who had just entered the room. She smiled and gestured them to sit down. Sakura bowed politely before taking the seat opposite to the woman.

"No need for formalities dear."

Sakura was surprised to hear this. But before she could ask any questions the woman introduced herself.

"My name is Inuzuka Tsume. I am Kiba's mother as well as the leader of the Inuzuka clan. And this" She gestured to the dog that had led them to the kitchen. "is Kuromaru, my partner." The dog nodded at her, Sakura realized it was now her turn to speak.

"My name is Haruno- I mean Ookamiza Sakura. And my wolves are called Hyouga, Arashi and Bakura."

Tsume smiled at her. "Must be difficult to get used to having a new surname. Well we are honoured to have you as our guest. I'm sure Kiba told you about Kakashi's request."

"Hai, he did."

Tsume nodded. "We will start training tomorrow. The hokage requested that we take you to the hospital first for some blood tests and all that. We'll wait for my daughter to arrive and then we'll leave for the hospital."

Sakura nodded in understanding. "So how many people live here?"

"Only the three of us, me, Kiba and Hana. The Inuzuka clan is rather small. And of course our dogs live here too, besides the dogs we use in battle we also have a lot of other dogs."

Well that sure explained their warm welcome. Tsume sniffed the air.

"Hana's here."

Not even five seconds later they heard the door open. "I'm home!"

A young woman, probably eighteen years old walked into the kitchen followed by three grey dogs. Sakura had heard some stories about Inuzuka Hana before, she was a talented shinobi as well as one of the best vets in Konoha.

Kiba jumped up. "Time to go."

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Bakura, Hyouga and Arashi watched curiously as the nurses took a blood sample from Sakura. Afterwards they checked her for any internal injuries. They also asked her to try and activate her kekkei genkai. Sakura did as told and noticed that when she activated the getsugan everyone had a strange, faint yellow glow surrounding them.

After the tests the nurses asked them to wait in the room for the results. Hana broke the silence.

"I haven't had the chance to properly introduce myself. I'm Inuzuka Hana."

Sakura smiled. "Ookamiza Sakura."

Tsume cleared her throat. "The hokage gave me some files about you Sakura. Is there any chance that you have gotten any of your memories back?"

Before Sakura could reply the door opened. Everyone turned around, as soon as they saw who it was they all bowed respectfully.

"Hokage-sama."

"Good morning. Sakura, how are you feeling?"

"All right I guess. I'm still rather confused because of what happened."

"I see. Have any memories of your past returned to you?"

Sakura sighed. "Yes." Everyone looked at her expectantly so she swallowed the lump in her throat and continued. "I remember my mother, my older sister, my older brother and my grandfather. My grandfather was the leader of the Ookamiza clan. I also found out that…that O-orochimaru is the one responsible for the massacre of my clan."

The hokage's eyes narrowed while the eyes of the Inuzuka family widened. The three little wolves jumped onto the hospital bed Sakura was sitting on and licked her hand. The wolf way of comforting. Sakura had tears brimming in her eyes.

She shook her head, ridding herself of all the negative emotions. She didn't have time for this! She had to train and get stronger! And she still had one last thing to tell.

"There is one other thing." She took of her hitai ite, letting the moon shaped seal become visible. "This thing on my forehead… is there because an elemental spirit was sealed inside of me. A snowspirit."

"Shaman techniques."

Sakura was taken by surprise. She hadn't expected that Tsume would even know about those techniques, they weren't even mentioned at the academy. The hokage nodded at the Inuzuka clan leader.

"Yes, that is the only way an elemental spirit can be sealed away."

He then turned to Sakura.

"An elemental spirit is rarely sealed inside of a human. It can't think, it can only destroy. People who are the vessels of such a thing have to be careful. Because when I said that it can only destroy I mean that it will keep destroying anything on its path until nothing is left. If the spirit manages to take over your body it will destroy you as well. The moment you die, the snowspirit will die as well. Or if the spirit is extracted from you, but I doubt there will be someone who is able to do that."

The doors opened once again, a smiling nurse came in. "You are healthy Sakura-san. Although some of your cells have mutated and became exactly like wolf cells there is nothing wrong with you. I wish you luck with your training."

Sakura smiled back. "Thank you."

Kiba grinned happily. "Let's go home."

Tsume nodded in agreement and bowed to the hokage as did the rest of the group.

The hokage held his usual friendly smile on his face. The group walked out of the room and found their way to the exit. Once outside Sakura stopped walking and looked back hesitantly. Her wolves stopped to look at her questioningly and Hana stopped walking as well.

"What's wrong Sakura?"

"I uhhm… I still need to do something. It won't take long, I'll be home in an hour."

Tsume nodded. "That's okay."

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Sakura walked into the Yamanaka flower shop and looked behind the counter, to her relief there was a bored teenage girl sitting there and not Ino's parents. Her wolves followed her inside.

"_What are you doing?"_

Sakura looked at Bakura. "I need some flowers."

Arashi barked happily as he looked at a vase of daffodils. _"Ooh, pick these!"_

Sakura smiled. "Good choice Arashi."

She got two daffodils and walked to the counter. The girl looked at her with a bored expression. "Just those?"

"Yes."

The girl wrapped the flowers separately and gave them to Sakura. Sakura payed and walked out of the shop and back to the hospital.

"Can I have the room numbers of Rock Lee and Yamanaka Ino please."

"Sure, let me have a look… Rock Lee is in room 124 and Yamanaka Ino is in room 349."

"Thanks."

Making her way up the stairs, followed by her furry companions she found herself standing in front of room 124. Taking a deep breath she knocked. After not receiving an answer she frowned and opened the door.

There was Lee, passed out on the floor. He smelled like sweat, Sakura's eyes widened. He had been training in this condition!

She put the flowers on the table and picked up the unconscious boy from the floor and put him on the bed. Arashi jumped on the bed and looked at the unconscious ninja.

"_Wow, he could use a bath…and a doctor."_

"_That is why he is in here Arashi."_

"_I know Bakura. But he doesn't look much better than after the sand guy had beaten him up."_

"_True."_

Sakura put one of the daffodils in the vase on the desk. And sighed. "Ooh Lee…"

Hyouga nudged her leg. _"Let's go."_

"Hai."

She opened the door and came face to face with a nurse. The nurse smiled at her. "Is he still asleep."

"I found him passed out on the floor. He had been doing push ups by the looks of it."

"Ooh no! Not in his condition!" The nurse rushed inside and slammed the door closed.

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-knock knock-

"Come in."

Sakura took a deep breath and entered room 349. Ino was sitting in bed with a magazine on her lap smiling at the door. The smile disappeared as soon as she saw who had come to visit her.

"Get out of here."

"Ino… Why are you so angry at me?"

"You almost killed me!"

"I didn't, the wound wasn't fatal."

"You don't let your friend get hurt like this!"

"You think I did that on purpose!? You were there you saw what was going on, I had no control over it at all!"

"Well you should have had you monster!"

Sakura let out a small gasp, that look again. Tears were forming in her eyes. "Do you really think of me that way?"

"Who wouldn't! Those two _things_ inside of you… they're a part of you, look at what they did too me, what _you_ did to me."

"We're shinobi Ino, getting hurt and even dying is part of the job!"

"Was that you or those things inside of you speaking, I'm sure they enjoy killing and hurting people."

Tears escaped from Sakura's eyes. "You know I didn't ask for any of this to happen."

"Well neither did I. And I'm the one who got hurt because of it."

"Stop acting like this is all about you! You have no idea what I'm going through at the moment!"

"Tch. You're getting stronger so you can show everyone at the chuunin exams tournament what you really are. And then I won't be the only one who thinks you're a monster."

She couldn't take it anymore. Ino had always been her best friend, her rival and now she was Ino's most hated person in the world.

She felt a tongue run over the skin of her leg. Looking down she was met with the amber eyes of Hyouga.

"_We should leave."_

Sakura nodded, she sniffed and used her arm to wipe her tears. She walked to the window letting her wolves out first she followed sparing Ino one last glance.

"I guess our friendship didn't mean anything to you then."

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She trudged through the small forest behind the hospital. Tears had started flowing again. Did their friendship really mean nothing to Ino? She sat down at the small river and stretched out her legs. Arashi jumped on her lap and lay down contently, Bakura found his spot on top of her left leg and Hyouga sat down next to her right.

She was silently crying, but the warmth coming from the wolves slowly calmed her down. Her tears finally stopped flowing and the heavens started to cry for her. The raindrops cascaded down upon her and her wolves.

Silently they watched the ripples on the river's water created by the rain. Until Hyouga broke the silence.

"_You okay?"_

"Yeah. I just never thought Ino would turn against me like that."

Arashi looked up at her from his place on her lap. _"We'll always be there for you Sakura, we promise."_

The other two wolves barked in agreement and Hyouga licked her arm. _"We're all members of the same pack. We have to look out for one another."_

A serene smile formed on Sakura's face. She may have lost a friend during the chuunin exams but she found three new ones. Three that were like a family to her, her pack. Ino had been wrong when she called her a monster. Ookamiza Sakura is not a monster and she never will be…

"I am a wolf."

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End of chapter 3.

Please review!


	4. Training Begins

Tale Of A Wolf

**Disclaimer: **I'm not even going to say it…

For the Reviewers:

**Larkasblessing: **I'm glad you find my story original, that's exactly what I wanted it to be.

**mngurl07****: **yeah, it's sad Sakura and Ino aren't friends… but that's all part of the plot.

**sweep14, Raven Kurosaki, Sadistic-Bitch, lillydanvic, Icecream Skittles Addict, h3rshy675, Golden Sakura Dragon:** Thanks for your reviews as well, you guys are great!!

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**Chapter 4: Training begins**

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"Looks like you got caught up in the weather."

A drenched Sakura and three drenched wolves were standing in the hall of the Inuzuka household. Sakura looked apologetically at Kiba.

"Sorry, we're making the whole house wet."

Tsume appeared next to Kiba and ruffled his hair. "Don't worry about it. Little Kiba likes to play in the rain as well."

"Kaasan!"

Tsume and Sakura both chuckled at Kiba's pout. Tsume let go of Kiba's hair and looked at Sakura. "You should get some dry clothes on before you catch a cold. The guest room is upstairs first door to the left. Your bag is already up there."

"Thanks Tsume-san."

The guest room was simple, it had all Sakura would need. A queen size bed, a desk, a closet and a door that led to the bathroom for the guests. Her wolves followed her inside the bathroom. Sakura looked at their dripping wet fur.

"You guys smell like wet dogs."

Arashi looked at her innocently. _"Well we sort of are wet dogs. Only we're wolves so that makes us wet wolves."_

"_Good thinking work Arashi, maybe you'll be smart one day." _Bakura said in a sarcastic way.

"_I'm already smart__ Bakura!!"_

Sakura watched the conversation between the two. Hyouga standing next to her clearly waiting for them to finish bickering. She looked at the shower to find a range of different body washes, shampoos and conditioners. Looking a bit closer she smiled.

"I found dog shampoo."

"_Hurray!"_

Arashi jumped in the bathtub, watching Sakura with his happy wolf eyes. It was going to take a while before they would be downstairs…

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As the four walked into the living room they were met with Akamaru.

"_Just in time for dinner."_

They followed the white puppy to the table. Tsume, Kiba and Hana were already seated. Sakura sat down on the fourth chair and smiled at the Inuzuka family.

"Sorry if I made you wait."

"Not at all Sakura!" Sakura smiled back at her fellow genin. While Tsume looked at the wolves.

"You three will go hunting with our dogs. Just follow Akamaru."

The four canines ran outside through the back door, barking excitedly. Hana's chuckle got Sakura's attention.

"They'll be fine Sakura. If anything they are probably better hunters than our dogs."

Tsume nodded in agreement. "Hunting will be good preparation before they start training. They've been frozen in ice for years, they need to get their muscles going again."

"Okay…"

Kiba grabbed his chopsticks and eyed his bento box hungrily. "Itadakima- Ouch!"

He rubbed the back of his head where Hana had hit him. The elder Inuzuka glared at him. "Don't be rude Kiba! We all start eating at the same time."

Tsume sighed and shook her head. She took her own chopsticks, Sakura and Hana following her suit. Kiba picked up his chopsticks again and eyed his sister wearily. "Itadakimasu!"

All four of them started eating. Kiba devoured his food like a hungry animal while the three women took their time to fully enjoy the food. After Sakura finished the teriyaki chicken she took the bowl of miso soup. Hana smiled at her.

"Hope you like it. I made the miso soup and the tempura and kaasan made the teriyaki chicken and the sashimi."

"It's great!"

Kiba had already finished his meal and looked at his sister with puppy dog eyes. "Neechan can I have your tempura?"

"No."

"Tch. You're mean Hana."

"Only to you otouto."

Sakura smiled to herself. Watching them made her wonder how she acted when she was around her siblings. Tsume's voice pulled her away from her thoughts.

"Sakura we will leave tomorrow at four o clock in the morning for training. We will go to the mountains near Konoha and stay there for two weeks of our training. Do you have a tent?"

"I have one at home."

"Good, you can pick it up with Kiba after you finish dinner. You should take a sleeping bag too."

"Tsume-san, are only you and I going to the mountains."

"No, Kiba is coming as well and of course your wolves, Akamaru and Kuromaru."

"Okay."

As soon as Sakura finished her sashimi and tempura Kiba jumped up from the table. "All right let's get going."

He ran around the table and grabbed Sakura's hand and pulled her out the door. He finally slowed down as they reached the more busy streets from Konoha. He let go of her hand and allowed her to lead the way to her apartment.

"Hey Kiba, you told me Kakashi was training with Sasuke so who is training Naruto?"

"Uhhm… I thought Ebisu-sensei was training him. But today I saw him running around the village while yelling 'Ero-sennin'."

"Perverted hermit?"

"Yeah, weird huh?"

They arrived at Sakura's apartment, she got the key out of her pocket and got inside. She turned on the light and took a quick glance at the clock: 6:24. Her apartment existed out of two rooms. A bathroom and a larger room that functioned as a bedroom, living room and kitchen. She opened the large closet and took out her tent and sleeping bag.

"Okay, let's go back."

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Kiba held the door open as Sakura walked in, the scent of her wolves hit her immediately mixed with a small amount of blood. Of course that was to be expected, they had been hunting after all. As they entered the living room they were met by Tsume.

"You can give those to me Sakura."

"Hai."

She handed the sleeping bag and tent to Tsume and went to look for her wolves. Kiba followed her outside to the garden where all the canines of the Inuzuka household were playing. Her furry friends ran up to her.

Sakura sat down on the grass and wrapped her arms around Arashi as he jumped on her. She fell over and landed on her back, enthusiastic grey puppy on top of her.

"_Sakura, the three of us killed a fully grown boar all by ourselves!"_

Sakura felt something tug on her head, she looked sideways to see Bakura pull on her pink and black tresses. _"We wanted to save some for you but Kuromaru said that you would eat something else."_

"Uhh yeah I already had dinner." The last thing she would like to eat was a freshly slaughtered boar. As much as she was a part of the pack she still felt human most of the time.

Hyouga licked her face and then brushed his nose against hers. It was really funny how many different wolf greetings there were. Sakura sighed.

"Let's go to bed. We have to leave early tomorrow morning."

Arashi was giving her his puppy dog eyes again. Sakura sighed again. "What is it?"

"_Can we sleep in your bed?"_

"Uhhm, Sure."

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Sakura felt a hand on her shoulder shake her gently. She moaned and buried her face in her pillow. "Five more minutes…"

Hana's chuckle rang through the room. "You have only an hour to get ready Sakura."

Sakura opened her eyes. That's right training would start today. She realized there was something warm on her back, looking over her shoulder she saw Bakura sleeping on top of her back. She looked for her other two wolves and found Hyouga curled up on the pillow next to her own and Arashi lay next to her legs. He seemed to be… running in his sleep.

Hyouga yawned from the pillow next to her, looking to her left Sakura was met with two sleepy amber orbs.

"_Morning."_

"Morning to you as well. Can you wake up Arashi, I'll wake up Bakura."

"_Sure."_

Hyouga got up and stretched his limbs for a bit. Then he did something Sakura wasn't expecting. He crouched down and jumped on top of Arashi, grabbing surprised wolf's left ear in between his fangs.

"_I didn't do it!!... Hyouga?"_

The other wolf growled triumphantly and wagged his tail. He let go of Arashi and looked at Sakura.

"_He's awake."_

Sakura had found Hyouga to be the calmest and most stoic of her three wolves. Still, they were puppies. Playing was something they were supposed to do. Sakura reached an arm over to her back and petted Bakura's soft fur. His eyes opened slowly, looking dazed for a moment before he licked Sakura's hand and got of her back.

"_We leaving already?"_

Hana shook her head. "No, you're leaving in an hour… make that 54 minutes."

"Hey Hana, aren't you going to come to the mountains?"

"Nah. Someone needs to stay here to look after the dogs, and some injured ninken are under my care."

"Okay, I'll just pack my stuff then. Where's my tent and sleeping bag."

"Kaasan sealed them in a scroll, that way you don't have to carry them the whole way. Just come downstairs when you're finished packing."

Hana walked out of the door and closed it behind her. Sakura let out a final yawn and climbed out of bed.

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Three faces looked up as the black and pink haired girl walked into the kitchen. Sakura noticed two backpacks placed against the wall and placed her own beside it.

"Ohayo!"

Kiba grinned boyishly. "Good morning!"

The three wolves barked their greeting as well. Tsume and Hana were not in the kitchen, Sakura sniffed the air. A lot of different smells filled her nostrils as she sent a bit of chakra to her nose to make her sense of smell even stronger. She smelled Kiba, her wolves, the food in the fridge, the sandwiches in Kiba's hands, the dogs in the garden… and Tsume and Hana who were in the garden as well. She locked eyes with Kiba.

"They're in the garden, aren't they?"

"Yeah. Good work sniffing them out!" Kiba looked at the three grey wolves at Sakura's side. "The food is outside. Sakura will eat here with me."

Sakura watched quietly as the wolves rushed out the door, all trying to get to the food first. Kiba held his hand out and gave her one of the sandwiches.

"Arigato."

They both ate in silence and both looked up when Tsume's scent reached the room.

"Sakura, I want you to wear these while we train."

Tsume handed her some weights. Two for around her wrists and two for around her legs. Sakura obediently put them on. It felt uncomfortable and heavy. But she wouldn't complain. She had seen what training with weights had done to Lee.

"They are five kilos each. We probably will increase the weights when you get stronger. We don't want to strain your muscles."

Sakura grinned. "Hai Tsume-sensei!"

Hana walked into the room as well, followed by Kuromaru, Akamaru, Hyouga, Bakura and Arashi.

"Good luck with your training Sakura."

"Thanks Hana."

Tsume smiled at her daughter and told her to take good care of herself and the dogs. Kiba smiled at Hana as the three ninja followed by their canines left the house.

"Bye Hana-neechan! I love you!"

Hana rolled her eyes at Kiba, he clearly said that to annoy her. "Bye Otouto."

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Sakura was panting by now, her limbs were sore from four hours of non-stop running. She kept on reminding herself that it was for her own good, she wouldn't stand a chance against that sound guy if she didn't become stronger. The sound of flowing water reached her ears. It didn't take long before they arrived at a river. The group stopped running and Sakura took her time to admire her surroundings. The place was beautiful, crystal clear water surrounded by forest and the smell of pine trees.

"All right, we'll prepare our tents and then we'll have something to eat. Sakura, you can take of your weights for now."

Sakura nodded and did as Tsume told her. Taking the weights of she examined the slightly irritated, red skin. She took a few large gulps from her water bottle and looked at her wolves. They were panting, also tired from the long run.

"You three can go to the river while I get the tent ready."

Arashi barked happily and with newfound energy he ran to the water. Without hesitating he dove into the water. Bakura and Hyouga followed him, but at a much calmer pace. While Sakura turned her attention back to the task at hand.

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It was around nine in the morning when they finally finished preparing the camp and having something to eat. The tree shinobi were sitting around the stack of wood that would function as a campfire tonight while the canines were sniffing the area excitedly. Tsume broke the peaceful silence.

"Sakura, did you get any information about jutsu from your clan when you got your memory back?"

Sakura thought for a moment. "Yes, the clan performed a ritual on me and my wolves to link us together. I should be able to seal them in my left arm and summon them."

Kiba's face clearly showed confusion. "Why would they do that?"

"My clan apparently had a lot of enemies, if they saw someone walking around with three wolves it would be obvious that they were from the Ookamiza clan."

Tsume nodded. "The ritual you are talking about also allows them to live longer than normal wolves. They will only die if they are killed or if their owner dies."

Sakura was stunned. "Tsume-san, where did you get that information?"

Tsume grinned sheepishly. "Bedtime stories from my grandfather."

Kiba was still taking in the information he had just received. "So Hyouga, Bakura and Arashi can become just as old as Sakura. Wow…"

"Well then, let's try it out. You should be able to call your wolves by using this Sakura."

Tsume handed her a small white dog whistle, it seemed to be made out of bone with vines and flowers carved into it as decoration.

"What is this Tsume-san?"

"It's what your clan called a wolf whistle. Your clan has been around for a very long time Sakura. This wolf whistle is worth a lot right now, it is made out of a mammoth's tusk. In other words it's antique. It only works for wolves, not for dogs so it won't benefit us. I think you have more right to keep it then I do."

"Wow… Thanks Tsume-san."

Sakura was speechless. The wolf whistle was beautiful and made by the hands of her family. And a very, very long time ago. How long had her clan been around for? Tsume's voice once again took her away from her thoughts.

"According to the stories grandfather told me the Ookamiza always lived in cold, snowy places. If there was a snowstorm they used these whistles to call their wolves. They also used them during fights, to give signals or orders to their wolves without making a single noise."

Sakura placed the wolf whistle around her neck with the leather cord that was attached to it. She blew the whistle once. Not even a minute later her wolves ran into the clearing followed by a confused Akamaru and Kuromaru.

"_What was that nois__e?"_

Arashi looked at Sakura questioningly while Hyouga immediately noticed the instrument around her neck. Recognition flashed across his eyes.

"_Wolf whistle."_

Tsume raised an eyebrow at the grey puppy. "You've seen one before?"

The wolf nodded in response. Bakura and Arashi barked in unison. _"Me too!"_

"Well now that you guys are here we can start."

"_Start with what?"_ Arashi's curious amber eyes roamed the area to find a clue for what the shinobi were planning.

Sakura decided to explain. "Do any of you remember how we were linked together by shaman jutsu and how you three are able to be sealed in my arm?"

Three furry heads nodded. Sakura gave them a determined nod in return. "Let's try it out."

Sakura held out her left arm, suddenly realising she had no idea what to do.

'_**Need some help?'**_

Sakura's eyes widened slightly. She recognized that voice in her head!

'_Shiki!'_

She could almost feel the devious smirk coming from the creature inside her mind.

'_**I'll help you perform this technique. Besides Ito thinks it's time to give you another memory.'**_

'_You're not going to scratch people again, right?'_

'_**Tch. That blonde kid should really get over it. No, I won't even be able to do anything unless someone infiltrates your mind.'**_

'_All right. So how do I make this jutsu work?'_

'_**Like this.'**_

Chakra began to mold itself and transferred to Sakura's arm. Her eyes widened a bit more. This wasn't her doing!

'_W-what are you doing!?'_

'_**Showing you what you have to do. Now calm down and pay attention!'**_

Sakura decided not to anger the wolf. Shiki could only be described as dangerous. Yet the fact that he did listen to Ito probably meant that Ito was even stronger. The chakra in Sakura's arm seemed to be absorbed by three spots on her flesh. She looked up as she heard a 'shh' noise coming from her wolves.

The three furry grey bodies dissolved into clouds of blue chakra and began to seep into her arm. She didn't feel any pain and black spots began to appear on her skin. The spots began to form shapes and soon she had three black paw prints on the top of her arm. Suddenly she felt chakra rush to her eyes, today was a day full of surprises. The getsugan had activated itself!

She looked around for a few moments. Kuromaru, Akamaru, Kiba and Tsume had a faint yellow glow surrounding them. Large specks of bright green appeared in their usually yellow aura before everything went black for Sakura.

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Kiba and Tsume watched the many facial expressions Sakura had as she prepared for the jutsu, like she was having a conversation with herself. Then they watched as the wolves turned into chakra and merged with her arm, creating paw print shaped seals.

Suddenly Sakura's getsugan activated and judging by the slightly panicked look on her face it wasn't Sakura who activated it. Her body stayed in its sitting position as the single petal began to lazily orbit around her white pupil. Her gaze became blank, like she wasn't there anymore.

Kiba felt his surprise being replaced by worry. "Sakura!"

He got up and tried to make his way over to the girl but a hand grabbing his wrist stopped him.

"Kaasan, what are you doing!?"

"Just stay calm and watch what happens, Kiba."

Kiba sat down next to his mother still looking at Sakura with worry. What was happening to his fellow genin? His worry once again turned into surprise as he got a close look at her eyes again. Opposite to the single white petal in both Sakura's eyes appeared another, identical white petal.

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End of chapter 4.

Please review : )


	5. Beast Mimicry

Tale Of A Wolf

Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: **Naruto does not belong to me...

For the reviewers:

**Ophalina: **Thanks for pointing out my spelling mistake in chapter 2. The petals of the getsugan are in the iris, not in the pupil.

**ItaDeiPei: **This chapter is all about getting stronger, hope you like it.

**Sadistic Bitch: **Yes, they will get to meet each other. And Sakura will meet someone else too...

**Huggles-chan: **You're back! : D My computer broke last week too, which is why this chappie is sort of late and I was like T_T

**Ogami Ga-chan:** Thanks for your compliments.

**missladylaura: **I'm not going to make any couples yet. But this will most likely become a GaaxSaku.

**Golden Sakura Dragon, Icecream Skittles Addict, Tori Hoshi, TwilightDragon: **Thanks for all your reviews!!

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**Chapter 5: Beast Mimicry**

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Sakura blinked a few times. She was floating in space again, stars shining all around her.

"It's good to see you again Sakura."

Sakura turned around to where Ito's calm voice was coming from. Ito and Shiki were standing behind her. Shiki's words came floating back into her mind.

_Flashback_

'_I'll help you perform this technique. Besides Ito thinks it's time to give you another memory.'_

_End Flashback_

"You were going to give me another memory?"

Ito nodded his head. "I'm sure the information will be useful for your training."

The stars began to swirl around Sakura again. Sakura closed her eyes as she was pulled into the whirlpool of light.

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Sakura opened her eyes, it took her some time to adjust to her pure white surroundings. She was in a forest, a forest covered by snow. The tall pine trees had a thick layer of snow covering their branches. And the ground was completely covered with a cold white blanket as well.

She heard giggling coming from behind her. Sakura turned around and saw herself, Sakura guessed she was six years old in this memory but something told her she wasn't. Her younger self was giggling and playing in the snow. Suddenly a chestnut coloured wolf jumped out from behind the trees. It tackled Sakura to the ground, the younger Sakura fell on her back with a yelp. The chestnut coloured wolf stood above her, wagging its tail.

The older Sakura let out a gasp when she saw the wolf's eyes. White pupil and a turquoise iris with three petals. The wolf possessed the getsugan!

The younger Sakura smiled brightly at the wolf. "Hello Haiku!"

"_Hey Sakura."_

The wolf talked back in wolves language and got of her. A rustle in the bushes disturbed the silence. A boy from about fourteen years old appeared, he had black hair with dark orange highlights and the same animalistic emerald eyes everyone of the Ookamiza clan seemed to have.

"Sakura-chan!"

"Hibiki-kun!"

The older Sakura blinked, she had heard that name before… in one of her other memories. Her mother had mentioned he was her cousin. Sakura smiled to herself as she watched how the boy sat down next to her younger self. She noticed how the wolf, Haiku was glancing around the area warily with those getsugan eyes. Did the wolves have the Ookamiza bloodline trait as well? The younger Sakura didn't notice the wolf's behaviour and merely eyed her cousin questioningly.

"Why are you here Hibiki-kun?"

"I came to say happy birthday."

"…But my birthday is in two days."

Hibiki grinned, showing his canines. "I know. But I'll leave for a mission in two hours."

"Ooh…"

Haiku let out a low growl at the trees behind them. Hibiki's eyes narrowed as he followed the wolf's line of vision. Suddenly he grabbed the younger Sakura and both he and Haiku jumped out of the way as shuriken whizzed across the area.

The older Sakura followed her younger self and cousin and landed just one branch higher then them. Normally the impact of the landing would have been heard, but it was her memory. She wasn't really there. She focused again on what was happening. Haiku landed on the branch next to his owner.

"Haiku look after Sakura."

"Hai."

Hibiki put Sakura down on the branch. The girl flung her arms around the wolf's neck and climbed on his back. Hibiki nodded and jumped down to the ground.

"Come out!"

A single masked ninja came out from behind a tree. A Kiri hitai ate around his neck, from the looks of it he was chuunin level. The older Sakura jumped down from the tree again to see what was going to happen. Hibiki closed his eyes and when he opened them again he activated the getsugan.

"Stalking five year olds, that's very mature." Hibiki's voice was laced with sarcasm. The man in front of him merely shrugged.

"Just give me the girl and I'll let you go."

Hibiki grinned and formed a handsign. He got down on all fours as his fangs elongated and his fingernails turned into claws. "Shikyaku no Jutsu."

The older Sakura watched with interest, she was going to see the skills of an Ookamiza. She recognized the jutsu Hibiki used as the same jutsu Kiba used during his fight with Naruto. The 'All Fours Jutsu'. Hibiki was ready to fight.

"I suggest you run. And fast."

The Kiri ninja got into a fighting stance, his eyes gleamed with confidence. The man's body was covered with strong armour, protecting him from most attacks.

"Boy, you are getting yourself into trouble. One last chance, just give me the girl. Sharp nails won't be enough to beat me."

"Yeah, I figured out that much."

Hibiki sped of to the man's direction. Moving with his shinobi speed while he was still on all fours. The Kiri nin just stayed where he was, confident that his armour would protect him. When Hibiki was about four metres away from his opponent he began running on his hind legs.

"Yasei Seishou!"

Hibiki's right hand began glowing with yellow energy that Sakura recognized as an aura. The power radiated from Hibiki's hand. The older Sakura's brow knitted with confusion. She wasn't using her getsugan and she could still see it, had it something to do with this being her memory?...No, the Mist ninja's eyes widened as he saw Hibiki's glowing hand, the aura was visible.

Hibiki's claw connected with the man's chest with deadly accuracy and power. The force caused the man's armour to break and he flew backwards until he hit the tree with a loud thud.

The man groaned as Hibiki smirked triumphantly. "My eyes allow me to see auras. The moment you stepped into this area I saw a lot of purple in your aura. You were overconfident, weren't you?"

The man groaned once again before his body went limp, unconscious. Hibiki sighed and straightened up.

"Let's go home Sakura-chan, Haiku."

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Sakura awoke with a gasp, almost losing her balance from her sitting position on the grass. She still felt chakra flowing through her optic nerves. She looked up to inspect her surroundings. Her gaze fell on Tsume and Kiba, who were both staring at her. A clear aura of yellow mixed with bits of lilac surrounded them. The auras were much clearer then when she saw them at the hospital and it also took her less concentration to maintain the chakra flow to her eyes.

"Glad to see you're back Sakura."

Sakura looked at Tsume, she was still dazed from the memory. The lilac that disturbed the auras of Tsume and Kiba slowly disappeared. Tsume didn't miss Sakura's intent stare.

"You can see our auras a lot clearer now can't you? What do they look like?"

"Yeah. They are completely yellow but in the yellow was some lilac as well."

Tsume nodded. "My grandfather often told stories about the getsugan. So I do know what most of the colours mean. I wrote them down for you before we left."

Sakura cut off the chakra flow to her eyes and took the small folded piece of paper that Tsume offered her. After folding it open she was met by a list written in a messy, but still readable handwriting. Kiba came to sit down next to her and glanced at the paper over her shoulder.

_Red= anger, hate _

_Vermillion= guilt_

_Coral red= passion, desire_

_Orange=happiness _

_Pink=love_

_Purple= confidence_

_Lilac= worry_

_Blue= confusion_

_Sky blue= calm_

_Marine blue= panic_

_Green= curiosity_

_Bright green= surprise_

_Cool grey= sadness_

_Warm grey= seriousness_

_Black=secrecy_

_White= fear_

"Wow, you're going to have to remember all that?!"

Sakura looked over her shoulder and smiled at Kiba. "I've always been good at remembering stuff. That's why I always did well on the written exams."

Tsume stood up. "You'll have time to memorize that later. First we're going teach you some beast mimicry."

"Hai." Sakura got up from her sitting position and stretched her limbs.

"First summon your wolves. They will learn the ninken katas from Kuromaru."

"Ninken katas?"

"Yes. There is a total of twelve ninken katas. It is like taijutsu for dogs. Every ninken has to know them."

Sakura nodded in understanding, now all she had to do was summon her wolves. She bit her right thumb and created a line of blood over all three paw prints on her arm. And now the handsigns…

'_**Boar, dog, monkey, bird, ram, palm on the ground.'**_

'_Ito?'_

'_**Hn.'**_

The presence in her mind had already disappeared. Sakura shrugged it off and used the information Ito gave her. Boar, dog, monkey, bird, ram.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

Three poofs of smoke appeared in front of her, leaving three young wolves behind. Sakura smiled at them, they seemed slightly dazed.

"Bakura, Arashi, Hyouga. You three will be training with Kuromaru to learn the ninken katas."

"_We had a memory!"_

Sakura looked at Arashi and then let her gaze wander to Hyouga and Bakura who both nodded. Hyouga explained.

"_We were talking to Isamu. He told us that because of the connection between the Ookamiza and their wolves we possess the getsugan as well. Minus the split personality."_

Sakura stilled for a moment. That explained how Hibiki's wolf, Haiku was using the getsugan. She turned her attention back to the wolves.

"Can you try sending chakra to your eyes?"

The wolves nodded in response. Sakura, as well as Kiba and Tsume kept a close eye on them. Nothing happened to Arashi's eyes, Bakura's eyes flickered to turquoise for a few seconds. Hyouga however managed to activate the getsugan. Just like Sakura he had two petals, he looked at everyone in the clearing as if he saw them for the very first time. Arashi looked at him with a bit of envy.

"_How do you do that Hyouga?"_

"_Just by sending chakra to my eyes."_

Tsume cleared her throat. "We're getting a bit of track here. We will practice using the getsugan another time. Kuromaru take the wolves and practice on the other side of the river. Sakura, we will go a bit further into the forest."

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"All right Sakura. The first thing you need to know about beast mimicry is that it will only work if you can become one with the animalistic side of you. Imagine yourself being your clan's animal, the wolf."

Sakura was sitting cross legged on a boulder, her eyes closed. She had already read the jutsu scroll for the technique that she would be learning and was now taking in every single word that Tsume was saying.

"You're the wolf Sakura, the strongest hunter of the forest, and your opponent is your prey…"

Sakura stayed still, a flash of a lake surrounded by pine trees in the darkness of the night, illuminated by the full moon…

_A memory, she was at the lake. Staring at the reflection of the full moon in the water. Her wolves seated next to her as well as her brother and his wolves. __Katsurou smiled before his gaze traveled to the full moon as the howl of a wolf echoed through the forest. _

"_We are__ wolves as well Sakura-chan." _

The memory disappeared and Sakura opened her eyes. Her limbs tingling with excitement, adrenaline flowing through her body and confidence filling her spirit.

"I want to try it out Tsume-san."

Tsume nodded. Sakura changed position so she was sitting on her haunches and formed the tiger seal.

"Shikyaku no Jutsu!"

The chakra flowing through her body felt like it was guiding her down to all fours. She felt chakra flowing through her whole body, becoming a faint pressure at her fangs and nails. Causing them to harden and grow longer.

Once the chakra settled she felt her muscles relax, yet ready to make sudden movements. Her fangs were poking her under lip, but her nails slightly disappointed her. They were sharper but definitely not sharp enough.

Tsume observed the girl. "Not bad for a first time. Now allow the chakra to fully retreat and we will try again. And we won't stop until you get it right."

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The last rays of sunlight were now shining. Most animals in the forest had already retreated to the safety of their nests and holes. Crickets were chirping and mosquitoes began to look for their victims.

Tsume was a really strict teacher. Not once had they stopped to take a break or even to have a drink. Sakura's clothes were glued to her body because of the perspiration. She would be out of chakra soon.

"Try again."

Kiba had already returned to the camp to prepare the campfire. Sakura put her hands together and once again formed the tiger seal.

"Shikyaku no Jutsu!"

Every time she had tried the jutsu again her nails became longer, very slowly. But her hands started shaking because the jutsu was unfinished. This time she would do it right!

Her fangs and nails elongated and hardened while the chakra flowed through her body, increasing her speed and strength. When she stood on all fours she couldn't help but smile tiredly. Her hands had stopped shaking. The jutsu was successful.

Tsume smiled back at Sakura but quickly moved forward to catch her as she fell of the boulder. Sakura had collapsed.

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Sakura's blurry vision slowly became clearer. She still felt weak and her body was incredibly sore… but it had been worth it. She had finally managed to complete the jutsu. A soft bite to her hand caused Sakura to wake up fully. She was in her tent, laying on top of her sleeping bag. He wolf companions sitting next to her.

"_Sakura…?"_

She let out a deep sigh and slowly crawled to a sitting position. She ignored the throbbing in her head and smiled at the wolves.

"Hey… How was training?"

Arashi whimpered slightly. _"Kuromaru can be scary… very scary."_

Kiba yelled loudly from outside. "Hey Sakura, if you're awake now you can take a bath in the river. Did you get any injuries from training?"

Sakura groaned softly, Kiba's yelling only increased the throbbing in her head. "I just have a headache."

"Ooh, sorry for yelling!"

He yelled back just as loud. Sakura sighed. Kiba could be like a second Naruto sometimes.

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Sakura smiled contently to herself as she returned to the camp. She smelled nice again and her whole body felt refreshed after her quick bath in the river. She had changed into her pyjamas and happily accepted the food given to her by Kiba.

"Thanks Kiba."

"Anytime."

She calmly ate the rice and vegetables while she watched Arashi and Bakura playfully fight over a bone that had once belonged to the hare they had managed to kill. Kuromaru soundlessly made his way over to her and sat down.

"They did very well today. Apparently they had already learned the first two ninken katas from the other wolves in your clan. We are working on the third kata now. They should be able to know it perfectly after tomorrow, they're fast learners."

Sakura smiled. "Thanks Kuromaru."

The dog nodded and went back to Tsume's side. Sakura felt something brush against her and looked down to see Hyouga curl up against her legs. She placed the empty rice bowl on her other side and rubbed the grey wolf behind his ears.

Bakura came running by, holding the bone he had been fighting over tightly in between his jaws while Arashi ran after him. No doubt wanting to take the bone from Bakura.

After a while the shinobi decided it was time to sleep. Training had to be continued the next day.

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Sakura yawned and stretched her limbs. During the night Arashi had managed to crawl into her sleeping bag, he was woken up by Sakura's movement. Bakura had been sleeping outstretched on top of her backpack while Hyouga lay on a shirt that he had pulled out of her backpack himself.

Sakura stared at Arashi's amber eyes. His little wolf head was laying on her shoulder again since she relaxed after stretching.

"_I don't wanna get up Sakura…"_

Sakura grinned at Arashi. "Well you'll have to."

The young wolf grumbled as he got up. Hyouga was awake as well and stretched while he let out a yawn. Bakura, Sakura noticed was feigning sleep. She sighed.

"Get up Bakura."

Bakura growled at nothing in particular and got up, tumbling of her backpack in the process.

Sakura chuckled at the little wolves as she softly pushed them outside. "I need to get changed." And she closed her tent again before the cold morning breeze could make it inside. As she searched for her clothes she could hear Arashi bark loudly.

"_I take that tree!!"_

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And once again Sakura was training with Tsume. Her wolves were practicing ninken katas again with Kuromaru. Today she was going to use the Shikyaku no Jutsu in combat and Kiba was her sparring partner.

The brown haired Inuzuka smirked at her as they both stood on all fours. Ready to fight. Sakura was wearing her weights once again, and to make it a fair fight Tsume had made Kiba wear weights as well.

"Let's see what you can do Sakura."

Kiba rushed at her. Sakura kept her eyes focused on his movement and waited until he was close enough. When he was she swiftly jumped to his left and tried to punch him. Just as she expected he blocked her and jumped backwards. However, she was surprised at the speed she had. Shikyaku no Jutsu increased the user's speed, but this much?

Kiba frowned and got some smoke bombs out of his weapon pouch and threw them at Sakura. Smoke appeared and clouded her vision. Sakura felt a bit of panic, she couldn't see Kiba. Which way was he coming from?

A sharp pain in her stomach distracted her from her thoughts. Kiba's punch was a direct hit and another punch connected with her cheek. She stumbled a bit before correcting her stance. How did Kiba know where she was? …Of course! He could smell her.

Sakura sniffed the air with her sensitive nose. Kiba wasn't the only one born with a strong sense of smell. She found his scent, rushing towards her. She dodged to the left and managed to grab his leg. Her nails digged into his skin as she tensed the muscles in her arm and used all her strength to throw him away from her.

A loud thud accompanied by a pained groan rang through the forest. Most of the smoke had disappeared and Sakura could see Kiba laying on the ground at least seven metres away from her. Tsume grinned at her.

"Just as I expected. This jutsu has a stronger effect on an Ookamiza than on an Inuzuka."

Sakura blinked in confusion. "What?"

"The Ookamiza clan created this jutsu. It was made to suit their genes. Every clan that uses beast mimicry has got cells of their clan's animal in their bodies. That is why this kind of ninja art can't be mastered by just anyone. The Ookamiza have more animal cells in their bodies than any other animal using clan, which makes this jutsu even more effective."

Sakura nodded in understanding, a bit excitement flowed through her as she realised just how much stronger this one jutsu made her. Kiba got up again and Tsume jumped backwards. The two genin began a complicated taijutsu battle, a tiny smile found it's way on her face as she dodged, blocked and countered Kiba's attacks. The time of sitting back and watching others do all the work was over. She was going to be strong, and show everyone what she was capable of.

Her fist connected with Kiba's face while his claw nicked her cheek. Both of them jumped backwards and tried to calm their heavy breathing. Suddenly in a flash Kiba was gone. Sakura's eyes widened, he had used a transportation jutsu. Something she thought to be a chuunin or jounin level ability.

She shrugged it off and was just about to sniff him out when a better idea entered her mind. She closed her eyes in concentration as she sent chakra to her optic nerves.

"Getsugan!"

She opened her eyes and glanced at her surroundings. Tsume's body was surrounded by the same yellow aura that Sakura had seen before, but this time it had some green in it as well, the colour of curiosity. As she looked around she noticed another, large yellow aura shining through a tree. She smiled triumphantly, her plan had worked, she had found Kiba.

She got down on all fours and ran towards the tree where Kiba was hiding behind. As she came close enough she lifted her hand ready to use her claw. As she swung her left arm she felt a warm sensation flow through her hand.

Kiba's eyes locked with hers, panic flashing in them as he jumped out of the way of her attack. Sakura's claw connected with the tree and she finally noticed how abnormally strong the aura around her arm was. Deep claw marks appeared in the tree while pain shot through her hand. She stopped the chakra flow to her eyes and held her left hand in pain. Kiba stared at the tree, his expression slightly pale.

"That…could… have been…me."

Tsume appeared next to Sakura and took her hand. The skin on Sakura's hand was burned; Tsume looked at Sakura with a serious expression.

"Do you know what kind of technique that was?"

Sakura thought about the memory of her cousin. He had used this attack. She grimaced at the pain in her hand and began to explain.

"I saw it in one of my memories. I think it's called Yasei Seishou. It somehow turns an aura into a weapon."

Tsume looked at the deep gashes in the tree. Sakura followed her line of vision. A few burned spots were visible in the gaping claw marks. Sakura swallowed as she realised just what the jutsu did. It created flesh wounds and small burns at the same time. A dangerous and painful jutsu.

"We'll have to find a way for you to use this ability without it backfiring at you Sakura. It will become a strong and dangerous weapon once you can use it properly."

Sakura looked at Tsume, who had a thoughtful look on her face. The Inuzuka clan leader began walking back to the camp.

"Let's get those wounds of yours treated first. Then we'll think of a way to train you in manipulating auras."

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seven days had passed since Sakura's first sparring match with Kiba. Arashi, Bakura and Hyouga had improved their ninken katas greatly. They now knew nine of the katas and also spent some time training with their getsugan.

Sakura still sparred with Kiba every day and also meditated while having the getsugan activated. It helped her greatly to control her aura; all though her burned hand was not yet fully healed she could now perform the Yasei Seishou without harming herself. And not just with her claws, Yasei Seishou was also useful to enhance a punch or a kick.

Today was the tenth day of training, and the day they would learn a new jutsu.

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Sakura lifted her eyes from the jutsu scroll and looked at her wolves. Juujin Bunshin, the Human Beast Clone. She would have to perform a henge for her wolves. She performed the handsigns and they transformed into a replica of her. Sakura got up and looked at her companions.

"Sakura."

Sakura looked to her left at Tsume. "Yes?"

"You should try using the jutsu on one of your wolves at a time. It'll be easier that way. And you three." The grey wolves turned their heads towards Tsume. "Don't forget to imagine Sakura's appearance when she performs the jutsu."

The wolves barked in unison. Sakura nodded and looked at Bakura. She gathered the chakra she needed and formed the handsigns.

"Juujin Bunshin."

A poof of smoke surrounded Bakura and soon a solid clone of herself became visible. It was easier than she had thought. Then again she had a natural talent for chakra control and she had gotten the transformation jutsu right at her first try at the academy. Bakura moved his arms, getting used to the feeling of having a human body.

Sakura moved on and easily completed the jutsu with Arashi and Hyouga. She turned to Tsume and Kiba. Kiba was grinning at her.

"See, it isn't that difficult of a jutsu. Just practice it a few times and you'll be able to do it without even thinking."

Sakura smiled and looked back at her transformed wolves. They were now walking around, sometimes stumbling a bit. They were definitely finding it strange to walk on their hind legs.

Sakura's nose picked up a familiar scent that was rushing through the forest. Kiba jumped up and smiled.

"Nee-chan!"

Hana jumped out from the trees, followed by her three dogs.

"Hey."

Tsume returned her daughter's smile. "Hana, you came to pay us a visit."

"Yes and I wanted to know how the training here was going."

Sakura smiled at Hana. "It's going great. That Sound guy won't know what hit him."

Hana grinned. "You know I realized something a few days ago. That red outfit of yours clashes with the colour of the getsugan so I thought…"

Hana began looking through her bag and pulled out a shopping bag. "You might like this."

Sakura opened the bag and pulled out a dress similar to the one she was wearing right now, only it had no sleeves and the colours were different. The top half was white that faded into a dark blue colour at the hips. A white circle was still visible on the dark blue half of the skirt.

"Thanks Hana… It's beautiful!"

Hana smiled. "Glad you like it."

Tsume stood up. "Let's have something to drink."

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Sakura sipped from her hot green tea as she listened to Hana. She was telling about her work at the veterinary clinic. Sakura had already changed her red dress for the one Hana had bought her and tied her hair up in a loose ponytail.

Sakura listened intently as Hana talked. She had treated a sick messenger hawk, a wounded ninken and a lot of other animals. The dogs at the Inuzuka household had told Hana to say hi to them.

"And Yamanaka Ino is out of the hospital now."

Sakura almost choked on her tea. "What? Is she alright?"

Hana sighed. "She is. But she has been…spreading rumours about you."

Sakura looked sadly at her reflection in her tea. "Do people believe what she is saying?"

Hana was quiet for a little while. "Some do."

Sakura sighed and got up. "I want to go for a walk. I won't take too long."

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Sakura softly kicked a rock out of the way. Her mind kept on going back to Ino. Why? Why couldn't Ino just forgive her?

"_It's not your fault Sakura."_

Sakura looked down at Hyouga. Her wolves had followed her during her walk. "I know…"

The direction of the wind changed and suddenly she smelled something…familiar. She started walking in the direction of the scent.

"Do you guys smell that?"

"_Yes."_

Sakura kept on getting closer. The scent was definitely human; it was someone she had met before. She just couldn't say for sure to who the scent belonged to. Her walking turned into running, her wolves following her at an equally fast speed. She jumped through some bushes and landed in front of someone. She was met by a pair of surprised as well as confused eyes.

"Sakura?"

"Sasuke-kun…"

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End of chapter 5.

Please review!

ninken- are ninja dogs

kata- a kata is a sequence of movements that represents various ways of attacking and defending, you learn them when you do karate. I thought that it would make sense if ninken also got some kind of taijutsu lessons. So I made up the 'ninken katas'.


	6. Encountering A Demon

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto

For the reviewers:

**ItaDeiPei:**Thanks for reviewing. Ps. Sasuke isn't the only one coming into the story this chapter.

**Nikooru-sama, lillydanvic, Jackie-chan, nekozr:** Thanks for your reviews!

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**Chapter 6:**** Encountering A Demon**

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The two genin continued to stare at each other. Sasuke had trouble keeping up his usual stoic face. He eyed her from head to toe, his eyes stopping for a moment on the wolves that were standing behind her before he looked back at her eyes. Sakura felt a small blush appear on her face as he continued to stare at her. A poof of smoke appeared next to Sasuke, revealing none other than the famous copycat ninja. One hand holding his beloved Icha Icha Paradise book while the other hand was in his pocket. He smiled as he noticed Sakura.

"Hello Sakura. That colour looks good on you, you should wear it more often."

Sasuke looked at his teacher. "Is there something you didn't tell me Kakashi-sensei?"

Kakashi looked at Sasuke with a blank expression. "There is a lot I don't tell you actually. Usually because you don't ask." The jounin smiled underneath his mask. "It's not a bad thing to think or care about others every once in a while Sasuke."

Sasuke scowled and looked at his feet. "Hn… So what happened?"

"Why don't you ask Sakura while I find a nice and quiet place to read my romance novel."

Kakashi disappeared in a poof of smoke while Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the place where the silver haired man had been standing. He shifted to look at Sakura.

"What happened to you?... And Naruto?"

Sakura merely sat down and leaned against a tree trunk. She waited patiently for Sasuke to sit down as well before she started to speak.

"Both of us are in the finals of the chuunin exams. My opponent will be Dosu, that sound ninja and Naruto will go up against Hyuuga Neji. I am training with Kiba and his mother. The Inuzuka clan uses some techniques that are used by my clan as well."

That caught Sasuke's attention. "Your clan?"

"The Ookamiza clan. We use wolves in combat like the Inuzukas use dogs. I'm actually related to Kiba, the Ookamiza clan are the ancestors of the Inuzuka clan. And I now have my wolves, Arashi, Hyouga and Bakura."

Sakura gestured to her wolves as she said their names. They merely stared at Sasuke as if trying to read his thoughts. The Uchiha nodded in response.

"So you weren't born in Konoha?"

Sakura shook her head. "No. I was found by the third hokage in the forest when I was seven. My memories and true appearance were sealed by my brother. He used a jutsu to teleport me away during the massacre of my clan."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed but his gaze softened. "Massacre?"

Sakura looked at the sky and watched a few birds fly past. Sasuke seemed pained at just hearing the word, so why didn't it affect her? Something nudged her hand, she looked down in Hyouga's amber eyes. His eyes were calm and wise.

"_The __bonds of a wolf and their pack are strong, stronger than any human could understand." _

Sakura stayed quiet for a while before she understood what Hyouga meant. She had bonds with her clan, the bonds a wolf shared with his pack. She knew, the part of her that was wolf told her. That she wasn't the only one left.

She looked back at Sasuke, a smile now present on her face.

"I am not the only one left from my clan. I just know there are others who survived the massacre."

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Sakura sighed as she made her way back to the Inuzuka family. Sasuke and she had both decided to get back to training. She smiled to herself, Sasuke's fan girls would kill her if they found out that she had actually had a normal conversation with him.

"_So that was the boy that you liked?"_

Sakura looked at Arashi and giggled in a girlish way. "Yes, that was Sasuke-kun. Isn't he amazing?"

"_Yes. I already miss his…glowing personality."_

Sakura looked down at the little wolf. "He isn't that bad."

Bakura lifted his nose up in the air. _"Well I won't approve of him being your mate."_

Sakura blushed and fought away another girlish giggle, the thought of Sasuke being her 'mate' was actually the same as him being her husband. Something that she had often dreamed about. Yet she had acted so much calmer around him then she normally would have done, it confused her. "Well I wasn't planning on finding a mate at the moment." Sakura mumbled more to herself than to her furry companions but Bakura still answered her.

"_Don't worry we'll help you find a suitable mate when the time is right."_

Hyouga nodded in agreement and elegantly jumped on top of a rock.

Sakura sighed. Great, her wolves were going to try and arrange her love life for her.

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"Took you long enough Sakura."

She gave Kiba an apologetic look. "I ran into Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke-kun."

Hana looked up. "I knew I smelled Kakashi on the way here!"

Tsume got up from her sitting position. "Hana is staying for dinner. Could you help her prepare the fish Sakura? Ooh, and Kiba can you go get some more wood for the fire?"

The two genin nodded in unison, Kiba took of into the forest with Akamaru tailing behind him and Sakura moved closer to the fire. She grabbed one of the fish, it was still wet from the river's water. Sakura set to work while Hana started a conversation about the first time she had participated in the chuunin exams.

Kiba and Tsume returned a little while later and they all ate together. Even the canines got some of the fish. After the fish Tsume took out a pouch that was filled with different kinds of berries. The group enjoyed the fresh and sweet taste of the berries and contently sat back after the meals were finished. Kiba sighed and closed his eyes.

"Four more days until we return to the village."

Sakura smiled. She had really enjoyed her stay with the Inuzukas here in the mountains. Tsume spoke up.

"You have improved greatly Sakura. Once we get back to the village your training with us will end. But you can always pay us a visit if you're looking for a sparring partner."

Sakura nodded in understanding and smiled. "Thank you."

Her smile disappeared. She was actually slightly nervous about returning to the village. How many people would believe what Ino told them? She shook of the thoughts about the Yamanaka girl and told the others goodnight before she disappeared into her tent with her wolves.

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Sakura yawned softly. She had woken up earlier than normal, she had the urge go outside and get some fresh air. She complied with her body's wishes and crawled out of the sleeping bag as quietly as possible. Of course the sensitive hearing of her wolves picked up that she was awake. She gave them an apologetic look.

"I just want to go outside for a moment. You can go back to sleep if you want to."

She got out of her tent. The sun was only just rising and Sakura felt drops of dew on her bare feet as she made her way over to an old oak tree and sat down against it. The morning breeze wasn't that cold today, she watched the sun slowly rise. The forest began to awaken, birds chirped, foxes were preparing to hunt and a deer was calmly eating the grass that was still covered with dew. It gave her a peaceful feeling, she loved the forest.

The sound of small paws coming closer caught her attention. She watched as Hyouga walked up to her and sat down next to her. Sakura changed her position and lay down on her stomach, face to face with the young wolf. Hyouga licked her nose and she giggled.

"I was wondering which one of you would get up first."

They stayed like that for a while. Staring at each other's eyes, emerald and amber. Sakura could almost see her own reflection in Hyouga's eyes. The small grey wolf held such wisdom in his eyes it amazed her. He was a lot more mature than the other two wolves.

Hyouga's ears twitched, a sign of awareness. Sakura's eyes narrowed as she tried to find what caused him to have this reaction. She sniffed the air. An earthy scent was close by, mixed with blood. Her eyes widened at a rustling noise that approached fast. With her hands and feet she pushed herself of the ground. Both she and Hyouga jumped backwards before sand collided with the ground, leaving a gaping hole behind.

She noticed a figure approaching from the forest. She had a pretty good idea just who it was. Crimson hair. Black rings around the eyes. The love kanji. Subaku no Gaara.

Sakura cursed herself from wandering of, away from the camp and the Inuzukas. Sure her abilities had improved, but she was nowhere near ready to take on an opponent like him. She glanced sideways at Hyouga. The hair on his neck was standing up, he was ready to fight if need be. She looked back at the boy standing in front of her.

"Why are you here?"

He stayed quiet for a while, just when she thought he wouldn't say anything he spoke. "What is that power sealed inside of you?"

"What?"

"There is more to you than just a simple human. What is it?"

Was he talking about the snowspirit? How would he even know that there was something sealed inside of her.

"What makes you think there is something sealed inside of me?"

"I can sense it. Raw power it wants to break free but it is completely caged inside of you. It wants to bring destruction to everything that is unfortunate enough to get in its way."

He was definitely talking about the snowspirit. How could it even be possible for a human to sense it, did he know Shaman Jutsu?

"It is impossible to sense it."

She knew that she had just admitted that there was indeed something inside of her. She had confirmed his suspicions. An amused smirk found its way on his face. It unnerved her greatly.

"The big difference between you and me is that you were born a human while I was born a monster, a demon."

Sakura's eyes narrowed in confusion. She heard Hyouga growl next to her. _"Getsugan."_

"_Sakura…"_

Hyouga's barks held a hint of fear and confusion. Sakura didn't risk taking her eyes of the redhead in front of her. "Getsugan."

She let out a gasp, she felt cold all of a sudden, very cold. His aura was huge! A thin layer of a yellow aura clung to him, after that an incredible aura with a slightly dark shade of red that she had never seen before. Just seeing the strange red aura made her blood run cold. It looked so dangerous, so strong. It scared her, really scared her.

He smirked at the effect he had on her. Sakura took a look at the small part of his aura that was yellow. Red and cool grey were wrapped around his body like snakes around their preys. The colours of anger and hate and sadness.

She was sure this boy hadn't had an easy past. But the strange red aura around his body was all she could really pay attention to. Just the red aura alone was already a lot bigger than the aura of a human.

"W-what are you?"

Her voice was quiet. She almost doubted that he had heard it, but apparently he had.

"Like I said. I am a demon."

Was that what it was? That unknown shade of red, a demon's aura! The boy turned around and began to walk away.

"You will not need to fight at the chuunin exams. However, be prepared to defend yourself."

Before Sakura could even find her voice to ask him what he meant the retreating figure disappeared in a swirl of sand.

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Sakura and Hyouga returned to their tent. Hyouga seemed calm once again but Sakura was still slightly shaken. Arashi and Bakura noticed her odd behaviour immediately.

"_Is everything okay?"_

Sakura gave a weak smile. "Yes, I think I'll just go back to sleep for a little while."

Sakura got back into her sleeping bag. But she didn't fall to sleep. The image of Gaara's aura just didn't leave her mind. She snuggled into the warmth of her sleeping bag and closed her eyes. If she couldn't sleep she would at least get some rest.

It didn't take long before she heard Kiba's voice yelling at her to get dressed.

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The usual sparring session with Kiba was already finished. They both leaned against the tree trunk as they drank from their own water bottles. They were waiting for Kuromaru, Akamaru and Sakura's wolves. They had been practicing the tenth ninken kata and now Sakura would train with her wolves. Tsume would explain what they were going to do as soon as the canines arrived.

Sakura and Kiba got up as they smelled the familiar scents approached. Soon the five canines arrived. Tsume nodded.

"All right Sakura, use the Shikyaku no Jutsu."

Sakura did as she was told. Her hands formed the tiger sign as she allowed chakra to guide her down on all fours. Her fangs and claws elongated and hardened.

"And now the Juujin Bunshin. For all three your wolves."

"Juujin Bunshin!"

Three poofs of smoke replaced her wolves for clones of herself. Sakura had to admit. The dress Hana had bought her looked better on her then the red one that she used to wear. Sakura looked at Tsume, about to ask what they would do but the grin on the Inuzuka leader's face kept her from doing so.

"You will be sparring against each other."

"What?"

Tsume smirked at Sakura. "That's right. Now get ready. 3…"

Sakura exchanged glances with her wolves. She didn't want them to get hurt, their eyes showed that they thought the same.

"2…"

Then again, this was just sparring. It would make them stronger.

"1…"

All four of them tensed their muscles, ready to fight.

"Begin!"

They rushed into battle at once. Sakura could easily smell which clone was which wolf. She dodged a well aimed kick from Hyouga and blocked a punch from Arashi. She used a foot swipe on Bakura. He landed on all fours and got up again almost immediately.

Sakura jumped back before Bakura managed to punch her. Arashi and Hyouga were already exchanging swift kicks and punches. Bakura ran at her again and threw punches at her she managed to block all of them… except one. Bakura's fist connected with her shoulder. She winced, the little wolf had a very strong punch.

Behind Bakura she saw Arashi fall backwards and Hyouga rushed at the transformed wolf she was sparring with. Bakura turned around but it was already too late. Hyouga's fist connected with his cheek.

She lifted her leg and tried a roundhouse kick on Hyouga. He jumped backwards, barely avoiding a punch from Arashi. Arashi's reverse punch however hit him dead on. Hyouga stumbled backwards while Arashi ran at Sakura.

They exchanged swift punches and Arashi eventually lost balance when he tripped over a tree root. But being on the ground didn't stop him from attacking her. One of his feet hooked behind her left foot while the other kicked her left knee, causing her to lose balance as well. She rolled away from Arashi while she got up, ignoring her sore knee. Arashi got up as well and Sakura rushed at him again.

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Sakura had no idea for how long she had been sparring with her wolves. They had been quite a challenge but she had been the last one standing. Kuromaru had picked up Arashi at the scruff of his neck, the grey wolf had barked in protest saying that he could walk. But had already fallen asleep before they reached the camp. Tsume carried Bakura and Hyouga, who also decided they had deserved their rest and fell asleep in the woman's arms. And Kiba being the intelligent person he was began to run back to the camp, forgetting his fellow genin before turning around and sheepishly asking if she needed help. And that was how he ended up giving the Ookamiza girl a piggy back ride.

Dinner existed out of a few rabbits, caught by Kuromaru and Akamaru. During her stay at the mountains with Kiba, Tsume and their dogs Sakura had grown accustomed to seeing dead animals and even learned how to prepare them to eat. Not only her fighting skills had improved, her survival skills had improved greatly as well.

Now her stomach was filled and she had bathed in the river Sakura felt her eyelids beginning to close. Just before she could fall asleep a hand shook her shoulder.

"Hey don't fall asleep yet Sakura!"

Sakura suppressed the urge to growl at Kiba and opened her eyes. "Sorry."

Tsume smiled at Sakura. "You should go to bed."

Sakura nodded. Her wolves had only woken up for food and had gone back to sleep immediately. Sakura almost regretted not following their example, she could barely keep her eyes open. She got up and quietly made her way over to the tent.

"Goodnight."

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Sakura woke up as something jumped on her stomach. She tensed her stomach muscles and bit back a groan as she looked at Arashi.

"_Rise and shine!"_

Arashi gave her his wolf grin and did nothing to remove himself from Sakura's stomach. Sakura smirked and swiftly sat up, causing the young wolf to yelp and fall of. Sakura crawled out of her sleeping bag. The smell of breakfast reached her nose, telling her that Kiba and Tsume were already awake. She got out of her tent, not bothering to get changed. She did adjust the black ribbon on her forehead that hid the crescent moon. She still hid it all the time.

"Morning Sakura!"

"Hey Kiba."

The youngest member of the Inuzuka clan handed her a small bowl of berries and some dried meat. Sakura handed the dried meat to her wolves who devoured the food hungrily.

"So what are we doing today?"

Tsume looked up. "Basic kunai and shuriken throwing."

Kiba groaned, earning a look from Tsume. "You can't neglect the basics of your ninja training Kiba. I'm sure Iruka mentioned this. If your basics aren't good, than nothing else can be good."

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Sakura watched silently as her wolves, who were now transformed into exact copies of her shot shuriken at the targets that were drawn onto the trees. They were doing pretty good, of course with the Juujin Bunshin they also received some of Sakura's abilities. She had thrown shuriken so many times that it had become a second nature to her. The same thing counted for using kunai. Watching them made her proud. Her wolves had improved so much in such a short time.

Sakura herself had already finished her shuriken and kunai throwing practice. She had been spending so much time on taijutsu style during her training in the mountains that it almost felt weird to do the normal ninja training again. It brought back memories of training with team seven. She remembered how Naruto wouldn't be able to hit his target half of the time, Sasuke always hit his target dead on. And she, she would try her very best to impress Sasuke. Sakura sighed.

She had changed so much while she was training. She hadn't even had the butterfly feeling in her stomach when she saw Sasuke. Which was quite a big change considering she had felt them the moment she saw him on her first day at the academy, a week after the hokage found her in the forest. Her brother had sealed away her true appearance, kekkei genkai as well as her memories. And he had sealed her wolf instincts as well. Maybe her animalistic side didn't like Sasuke. Yet she had still blushed when she was around him. And giggled girlishly once he had left. This was all so confusing!

"Earth to Sakura!"

Sakura blinked and looked up at a grinning Kiba. She did nothing to remove herself from her comfortable sitting position against the tree trunk.

"What's wrong Kiba?"

"Nothing, you just spaced out. Here, catch!"

Sakura expertly caught the shuriken Kiba threw at her between her thumb and index finger. The sharp object did manage to make a small cut on her thumb. Sakura watched a drop of life giving liquid slowly run down her finger. A trail of goosebumps ran down her back.

Suddenly she knew what Gaara's strange aura reminded her of. Blood.

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End of chapter 6.

Please keep reviewing! It motivates me to write more often. Also please tell me if I make any grammar mistakes, English is my second language.

I was also planning to change the title of my story to '**The Wolf Inside**'. Please tell me if you think this is a good idea or not.


	7. Snake Attack

**Disclaimer:**Naruto is MINE dattebayo!!… yeah, I wish.

About the title of the story:

I counted the votes from the reviews:

Tale Of A Wolf- 2 votes, The Wolf Inside- 3 votes

And the votes from some of my other friends:

Tale Of A Wolf- 2 votes, The wolf Inside- 1 vote

So that's 4 votes for both… I will keep the title the same for now. Maybe I'll change it later on. Thanks to everyone who voiced their opinions.

For the reviewers:

**Kagome-loves-Kouga:**Yep, Dutch is my first language, English my second.

**xxbochixx: **Wow, so many compliments! I really love it when people say my story's original.

**CYUNME: **Then I think you'll be happy to hear that this will eventually be a GaaxSaku, it will take a while before I start with the couples so that's why I haven't really mentioned it yet.

**Raven Kurosaki, kaminariyoru, Jackie-chan, Nikooru-sama, Golden Sakura Dragon, Freaked Out Angel, BloodxMoonxNightmare, Northernlights, ItaDeiPei: **Thank you so much for reviewing!

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**Chapter 7: Snake Attack**

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Sakura stared at the red liquid running down her finger. The only thing she could think about was the crimson haired boy who claimed to be a demon. Gaara. The colour of that strange aura of his, it reminded her so much of blood.

"Sakura, Sakura!"

Sakura's mind returned to the present. "W-what?"

"You really need to stop spacing out."

Sakura pushed the shuriken a bit deeper into her skin, effectively waking her from her daze. Kiba looked at her weirdly before handing her some bandages. Sakura thanked him and wrapped it around her bleeding thumb. She noticed how her wolves, who were still copies of herself, looked at her as well. She smiled at them weakly.

"Sorry, I was just… remembering something."

Luckily Kiba didn't push the matter and neither did her wolves. Sakura looked up at the sun, judging from its position it was about five o clock. She looked back at her wolves and nodded. In a poof of smoke all three of them had their small, furry bodies back. Sakura got up from the base of the tree trunk as well.

"Let's go back."

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Tsume didn't bother looking up as she added more ingredients to the soup, she had already smelled them before they even got to the camp. She grabbed Kiba's wrist as he tried to grab some of the ingredients. The boy pouted at his mother.

"I'm hungry!"

Tsume smirked at him. "I don't care."

Kiba huffed angrily. "Well you're supposed to."

Tsume smiled and placed a kiss on Kiba's cheek. Causing him to jump up quickly and wipe his cheek with the back of his hand. This only made Tsume smile wider. "Of course I care that my baby is hungry."

"Mom!"

Tsume grinned at Kiba. "Just sit down for a moment, the soup will be ready in ten minutes."

Sakura sat down at her usual spot against the tree, while Arashi lay down on her lap. She scratched the young wolf behind his ears. Bakura and Akamaru were both pulling at one end of a rope while growling and wagging their tails playfully. Hyouga was staring up at the starry night sky, the light of the stars reflecting in his eyes. It was as if he was waiting for the stars to tell him something. Sakura looked at the sky, it would be a full moon soon.

Sakura snapped out of her thoughts at the sound of Kiba's voice. "Come on Akamaru! Don't let Bakura beat you at a simple game of tug-o-war." The little dog and the little wolf both started to pull harder, growling fiercely. The competitive looks in their eyes reminded Sakura of Naruto and Sasuke. How well was their training going?

Finally the rope snapped, making both Bakura and Akamaru tumble backwards. They both got into a sitting position, each holding a piece of rope. Bakura showed a triumphant wolf grin.

"_My rope is longer then yours. I win!"_

"_No you didn't! My piece of rope is longer!"_

The two canines began arguing with each other about who was the winner, the strongest, the smartest… Yes, just like her teammates. Kuromaru suddenly appeared in between the young wolf and dog, his eyes gleaming dangerously.

"You know what. I am the strongest and the smartest. Now be quiet!"

Both Akamaru and Bakura placed their tails in between their legs, showing Kuromaru that he had been successful at scaring them. Sakura swore that even Kiba was slightly scared. Kuromaru turned around and lay down in front of Tsume's tent, closing his eyes as if nothing happened.

Tsume grabbed a few bowls, smiling widely. "Soup's ready."

Sakura placed Arashi of her lap, earning a small whine from said wolf. Tsume handed her a bowl of soup and handed another one to Kiba before filling one for herself. Sakura looked at the canines.

"Shouldn't we give them some soup as well?"

Kiba shook his head. "Nah, dogs never really like soup. They prefer meat."

Sakura nodded in understanding. Eyeing her wolves who suddenly seemed to be filled with energy and anticipation.

"_We're going hunting?"_

Tsume nodded. Before anything else could be said the three wolves ran of into the forest. Shortly followed by Akamaru and Kuromaru.

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Sakura sighed as she turned in her sleeping bag. She had gone to bed once her wolves had arrived. But she hadn't been able to fall asleep yet.

"_What's wrong?"_

Sakura met Bakura's questioning eyes. She noticed Hyouga's and Arashi's eyes gleaming in the dark as well, expecting an answer.

"I don't know. I think I'm just nervous about the chuunin exams. And worried about Naruto and Sasuke."

Arashi barked his response. _"They're strong, you have no reason to worry about them_._"_

"I suppose…"

"_We should get s__ome sleep. Tomorrow is the last day of training."_

Sakura nodded at Hyouga's words. "Hai. Goodnight."

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Sakura blinked slowly and let her eyes adjust to the small amount of light in the tent. She sat up and softly brushed her hand over the fur of her wolves, causing them to wake up.

"Come on guys, last day of training."

All four crawled out of the tent. Tsume and Kiba were nowhere to be seen, probably still asleep. Sakura smiled, walking towards the river.

"Let's go catch some breakfast."

Sakura added some more wood to the fire, but still making sure that she didn't burn the fish. While also making sure that Arashi, who was clearly _very_ hungry didn't snatch any of it.

"Hey Sakura, you're already up?"

Sakura looked at a sleepy Kiba, followed by an equally sleepy Akamaru. Who both sat down and looked at the fish hungrily, just like Arashi. Bakura jumped on Akamaru from behind, tugging at the small dog's long ears. Hyouga merely watched stoically as the two began a small fight only to run after a butterfly twenty seconds later.

Finally the last members of the group came out of their tent, Tsume and Kuromaru. Tsume's face lit up immediately at the smell of breakfast.

"Thank you for making breakfast Sakura."

"No problem."

Sakura grabbed the fish and handed them to everyone, only pausing to call Akamaru and Bakura back from their butterfly hunt. The two canines immediately forgot about their prey and rushed back as soon as the word 'food' left Sakura's mouth. Sakura calmly watched her wolves eat. Surprisingly Arashi was the only one that took the time to actually chew before he swallowed his food.

"Tsume-san, what are we doing for training today?"

Tsume smiled. "An advanced chakra control exercise. I'm going to teach you how to walk on water."

Kiba looked up. "That's actually possible?"

Sakura nodded. "I saw Kakashi-sensei walk on water in the land of Waves."

"Kakashi-san said that you are very talented with chakra control. So I decided to save this for the last day. Kiba, you will also get to try. As well as Bakura, Arashi, Hyouga and Akamaru."

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Sakura, Kiba and their canine partners stood on the river's edge, looking at Tsume and Kuromaru who were standing on the calm, crystal clear water. Tsume had explained how to channel their chakra and was now waiting for them to make a move. Kiba grinned.

"This'll be easy."

He stepped forwards, slipped on a wet rock and fell face first in the river. The whole group watched silently as he sat up. Arashi barked quietly.

"_I would be so emb__arrassed if I was you Kiba."_

The genin glared at the young wolf who stared back with innocent eyes. Sakura shook her head with a smile and began to gather chakra. Confidently she stepped forward. Her feet stayed on the water's surface. She took a step forward, and another. She let out a surprised yelp as she suddenly lost her balance and fell into the water.

She swam back up and got the wet strands of her pink and black hair out of her face. She was really happy she had decided to wear a simple purple tank top and black kunoichi pants instead of her ninja gear. Of course she still had her hitai ate covering the seal on her forehead. She climbed out of the water and looked at her wolves.

"Now it's your turn."

They all barked in reply. Bakura confidently put his front paws on the water it lasted for two seconds before he fell into the water. Hyouga didn't do much better, he managed to stand on the water with all four his paws but as soon as he moved one paw he fell in as well. Both wet, furry heads broke through the water's surface and stared in an astonished manner at the third wolf. Arashi was _sitting_ on top of the water. Sakura was staring at the wolf as well, a hint of pride in her eyes. Not only had he been able to walk on water, his chakra control was so good he was even able to sit on the water. Arashi's playful wolf eyes met hers, Sakura smiled.

"Great job Arashi!"

He barked happily. Hyouga and Bakura swam back to the river's edge and got ready to try again while Kiba and Akamaru got ready as well.

During the day they improved slowly. Sakura couldn't deny that walking on water was a lot more difficult then walking up trees. But she and her wolves had mastered it after about four hours of practicing. That didn't mean they got any rest, Tsume made sure of that. She made Sakura perform the Juujin Bunshin for all four of her wolves and paired them up. Bakura was Sakura's sparring partner while Arashi sparred with Hyouga. Sparring while standing on water took a great deal of concentration, so about every ten minutes one of them fell into the water.

Kiba and Akamaru had more trouble with walking on water. But in the late afternoon they too started sparring on top of the water.

"All right that's enough! Now go get changed."

Six heads turned to look at Tsume, who together with Kuromaru began to walk back to the camp. Sakura's body was still soaking wet, she fell into the water a few minutes ago. She grabbed a towel and began to dry her hair. She was followed by her wolves, who were no longer clones of herself, Kiba and Akamaru. The group walked back to the camp. Kiba and Sakura disappeared inside their tents without a word.

Sakura took of her wet clothes and quickly began to towel her body dry. Once that was done she grabbed her pyjamas and tied a black ribbon around her forehead. Once she was done with that she grabbed her wet clothes and towel and got out of the tent. After putting them on a branch to dry and sat at her usual spot underneath a tree, watching Tsume cook. Kuromaru sat down next to her.

"They have mastered all twelve of the ninken katas now, but it would be good for them to repeat them from time to time."

Sakura nodded at the dog and scratched him behind his single ear. "Thanks Kuromaru."

She received a nod in response. He walked away and was immediately replaced by Bakura, Hyouga and Arashi.

"_Training is over." _Sakura nodded at Hyouga, tomorrow morning they would return to the village. Bakura had a wide, happy wolf grin.

"_That Sound ninja won't stand a chance against us."_

Sakura couldn't help but giggle at his confidence. Bakura was always the most confident one out of her three wolves, sometimes even overconfident. But not about himself, about them as a team, as a pack.

Sakura smiled, it was about time she got confident in her own abilities as well. At the final rounds of the chuunin exams there would be no Naruto or Sasuke to watch her back. Just her, her wolves and her enemy.

"Yeah, we'll be chuunin very soon."

"Dinner's ready!"

Arashi immediately rushed over to Tsume while Bakura, Hyouga and Sakura followed him calmly. After dinner everyone decided to go to bed.

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Sakura took a deep breath as they reached the village gates. She had mixed feelings about returning; especially now Ino was out of the hospital. How would they react if they saw each other again? Were her wounds fully healed? Sakura shook her head. She couldn't start avoiding Ino, if they happened to meet each other then so be it.

She looked down at her wolves; they had been running the whole way back to the village. Her canine companions were thirsty and so was she. Tsume's voice made her look up.

"Izumo, Kotetsu. Good morning."

"Morning."

The eyes of the two chuunin looked them over, pausing at Sakura and her wolves. Sakura felt a wave of relief wash over her. Both of them just looked curious, no anger or fear. Izumo spoke.

"Aren't you from team seven?"

Sakura smiled and nodded. Kotetsu shifted his gaze from her wolves to her.

"Kakashi-senpai said you had changed… a lot… Anyways, welcome back to the village!"

Tsume nodded and began to walk, followed by Kiba, Sakura and their canines. Kiba turned to look at her.

"Looks like those two don't believe the rumours Ino spread."

Sakura sighed. "I wonder who else doesn't believe her. Ino can be a real drama queen, she likes to exaggerate a lot."

The group walked further, Sakura was aware of the many stares directed at her but ignored them as much as she could. Naruto had been able to handle this feeling for years, if he could do it then so could she. Tsume and Kiba turned around, causing Sakura to stop walking as well.

"We have to go left here Sakura. I suppose we'll see you around."

Sakura nodded. "Thank you for training me."

Tsume smiled. "No problem."

"Say hi to Hana and the dogs for me."

Kiba grinned. "We will."

"Ja ne."

Sakura began to walk down the street, followed by her wolves while the Inuzukas turned left. She looked down at her wolves for a moment.

"I want to buy some food before we go home okay?"

"_Sure."_

It didn't take long before they reached a small super market. Sakura sighed as she saw the 'no pets' sign on the door. Many shops had them because the Inuzuka and Aburame clan often asked their animals for assistance when they were shopping. Of course a swarm of bugs carrying a box of cereal or a dog sniffing the fruit scared away a few customers. Sakura looked at her wolves and held her left arm out in front of her.

"I'll let you guys run around again after the shopping."

Three furry heads nodded before the wolf puppies turned into clouds of chakra and merged with the skin of her arm, leaving three black pawprints behind. Sakura ignored the increased amount of eyes that were openly staring at her and walked into the shop.

She began gathering what she needed. Fruit, vegetables, meat, rice, potatoes, ice cream… and so on. Once she had everything she walked back to the front of the shop. The usually friendly old lady behind the counter put everything in plastic bags without saying a word or even looking at Sakura. Only muttering something about 'poor Ino-chan'. Sakura just left the right amount of money on the counter and walked of with four heavy plastic bags and a frown on her face. That old lady had always greeted her with a smile and offered her a lolly as she left. Had she really changed this much because of a rumour?

Sakura put the bags down and bit her thumb. After creating a line of blood over the pawprints she made the handsigns and summoned her wolves. Arashi cocked his head to the side.

"_What's with the long face?"_

"Don't worry about it. Let's go home."

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After having a drink of water, putting the food away and cleaning up some dust that had formed in her apartment during her absence Sakura and the wolves decided to go for a walk. Purposely avoiding the main street because of the many stares directed at her and her wolves. Sakura smiled as a breeze ruffled her black and pink hair, however because of the change of the wind's direction a familiar scent reached her nose.

"_Sakura…"_

"I know Hyouga."

They continued walking but came to a stop underneath a tree. Sakura looked up and locked eyes with the person up in the tree.

"What are you doing up there Shikamaru?"

"Hiding from Asuma… Training can be so troublesome."

"Still the same lazy ass I see. Mind if we join you up there?"

"Not at all."

Sakura nodded at her wolves and jumped up, landing on a branch next to Shikamaru's. Just like him she lay down and watched the clouds from underneath the curtain of leaves. Arashi softly landed on her stomach and curled up there, waiting for her to pet him. Which she did. Hyouga took the branch above Sakura and Bakura got as high as possible, poking his head out above the leaves. To Sakura's surprise it was Shikamaru who broke the silence.

"So how's training been?"

"Good, I spent two weeks in the mountains with Kiba and his mother. I have improved a lot."

"You know, your fight is going to be a lot less troublesome then mine."

Sakura raised an eyebrow. "Why is that?"

"Because no one knows anything about you, or your techniques. While you know everything about your opponent's. Of course ignorance scares people."

"So that's why Ino's rumours are believed by most?"

"Aah."

Sakura ignored Arashi's whine as she stopped petting him and turned her head to look at Shikamaru. "Do you believe what she says?"

"That you are a monster? No. That you are dangerous? Yes. Overall I think it would be troublesome to get on your bad side."

Sakura laughed softly before she turned serious again. "How is she?"

"Her wounds are fully healed. The medics made sure there is not even a scar left on her stomach."

"That's good."

This time Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "You still care about Ino even when she is doing everything she can to make your life difficult?"

"I can't just forget all the good times we had together. Part of me will always think of her as a friend, although that part is becoming smaller. Still, I think everything happens for a reason, even this."

Shikamaru snorted. "Everything?"

"Yes, like how Asuma-sensei is coming this way right now to train you."

"Troublesome…"

"Sayonara, Shikamaru."

Sakura jumped out of the trees, followed by her wolves. Quietly they began to walk again, Sakura with a smile on her face. She had found another person who didn't believe Ino.

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Sakura sighed as she got in her bed. The mattress was heaven compared to the sleeping bag. Her wolves curled up at their place of choice. Arashi, of course, slept next to Sakura, curled up against her stomach. Hyouga slept on a chair and Bakura took the floor for a change. It didn't take long before they all fell into a deep slumber.

The slightly opened window creaked open further. Before the wolves, with their sensitive hearing could wake up senbon needles hit their backs. The small sting went unnoticed as sleeping poison entered their bodies. Another needle hit Sakura's arm. A shape materialised in the middle of the room.

The person calmly removed all the senbon and placed them back into his weapon pouch. Silently he walked to the bed. Slitted yellow eyes looked over the Ookamiza girl and lifted the ribbon covering her forehead.

The man took out a small box from his weapon pouch and opened it. After dipping his finger in the orange clay he closed the box and put it away again. He placed his finger on the black crescent moon on the girl's forehead, leaving behind an orange fingerprint, he removed his hand and closed his eyes in concentration. Smiling he opened his yellow, snake like eyes again. Unheard by the four sleeping beings Orochimaru's voice rang through the room.

"Soon Konoha will have no getsugan user… or sharingan user."

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End of chapter 7.

Please review!! 

Ja ne- see you later

Sayonara- goodbye


	8. Getsugan vs Sharingan

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto.

Yes, I know this chapter took very, very long but I was on a holiday. So I didn't really have time to write. Please forgive me!

For the reviewers:

**Kagome-Loves-Kouga:**Yeah, Orochimaru is up to something. Too bad he'll have to wait until next chapter. : P

**Eyes of a Black Dragon: **Thanks, hope you like this chapter as well.

**xxbochixx: **Lol, I'll be nice and leave out anything orange in this chapter.

**eeveegirlsakura: **Thank you. I'm trying to keep the plot and my stories as original as possible.

**Neko4:**It's going to be a GaaxSaku story. But it will take a while before I get to that part.

**NorthernLights25,**** Golden Sakura Dragon, Kaminariyoru, Nikooru-sama, CYUNME, midnightangel09, ItaDeiPei, shadow-binder: **Thanks for your reviews!

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**Chapter 8:**** Getsugan vs. Sharingan**

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Sakura yawned as she slowly stretched her limbs. She hadn't slept this good for a long time. She brushed her hand over Arashi's fur.

"Wake up Arashi."

The young wolf slowly sat up, looking disorientated. He jumped of the bed and walked over to Bakura and began to poke him with his paw, yelping in surprise as Bakura bit it.

"_Got ya!"_

"_Let go Bakura!"_

Hyouga woke up from the noise his fellow wolves made. He clearly had no intentions of getting up. Sakura walked over to the closed curtains and opened them.

"What the…?"

She had expected to be met with a beautiful sunrise; instead she was met with a sunset. The sun was very close to disappearing and stars were already twinkling in the sky. Had they been asleep the whole day? Bakura jumped on the windowsill and licked her hand.

"_Let's go get some breakfa-…dinner."_

Sakura put a lock of hair behind her ears. "Okay…"

She walked to the kitchen, followed by Bakura and Arashi. She knew Hyouga would wait until dinner was served. _Lazy fur ball._

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"_We should do this more often!"_

After dinner Bakura had suggested to go for a walk. Arashi was having a lot of fun with firefly hunting. Sakura watched with amusement as the wolf hopped around in the grass, trying to catch one of the glowing insects. She lay down on the grass and stared at the night sky. Bakura lay down next to her and rolled over on his back, Hyouga sat down and looked up at the stars as well.

They just stayed there, enjoying the cool evening breeze. Arashi joined his comrades in star watching when the fireflies stopped glowing. Sakura was trying to find the constellations as she heard Bakura's soft snoring, Sakura smiled in amusement. There was just no way he was tired already. Sakura got up and looked at her wolves. Bakura woke up from her sudden movements and stared at her with curious eyes.

"We should go back home. I want to spend the time we still have before the chuunin exams for training."

Hyouga stood up. _"I agree."_

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The next day they got up early. After breakfast Sakura decided they would go train in the forest outside of Konoha, an idea the wolves instantly agreed with. After a few hours of running they reached their destination: a small waterfall that originated from the same river they had trained at with the Inuzuka family.

Of course after a few hours of racing each other (Sakura was extremely glad she beat her wolves and reached the waterfall first) they had already used up a lot of energy. After setting up a fire and catching some fish they waited patiently for it to be ready to eat.

"_You know, your stomach would be able to handle raw__ meat or fish. Why would we spend __time to prepare it?"_

Sakura looked at Hyouga. "Well it still tastes better."

Arashi wagged his tail happily._ "Yeah, it does!"_

Sakura divided the fish and began to eat her own share. The wind changed directions, bringing new scents with it. Two of which Sakura recognized immediately. She whipped her head around instantly, knowing that her wolves were doing the same. Two people ran at their direction and jumped out of the trees, their familiar faces looking at Sakura.

"Yo." Kakashi gave her his usual eye crinkle. Sakura smiled widely.

"Kakashi-sensei, Sasuke-kun."

The raven haired genin nodded as a sign of greeting. Kakashi leaned back against a tree, taking out his beloved Icha Icha book and began to read. Completely aware of the four pairs of eyes that were watching him in confusion and one more pair in annoyance.

"Weren't we going to train Kakashi?"

Kakashi looked at Sasuke and smiled. "Glad you asked, as soon as Sakura has finished eating."

Sakura felt the remaining bit of her food being taken out of her hands. She looked at Arashi, who watched her with mischievous eyes as he devoured the fish. She sighed and stood up.

"Looks like I'm done."

Kakashi smiled, a glint in his eyes that made Sakura unsure what to do. Sasuke lifted an eyebrow and the wolves listened intently as well.

"Well seeing as we are all ready to hear what my plan is, I suppose I'll tell you. Sasuke, Sakura you'll be sparring against each other."

Sakura's jaw fell slightly. Fight Sasuke? The number one rookie, Uchiha prodigy _and _her crush. Sasuke looked at Kakashi as if the jounin had just grown another head. Bakura growled in anticipation, of course he wouldn't back down from anything.

Kakashi looked at them calmly. "Well? What are you waiting for?"

Sasuke rushed at Sakura without a second thought, taking the kunoichi by surprise. He moved to punch her, only to be stopped by Hyouga. The young wolf had disappeared and jumped on top of his arm, redirecting Sasuke's punch so it met with nothing but air. Then Sasuke stumbled backwards as Bakura's small body slammed into his stomach.

Both wolves faced him. Bakura bared his teeth at him threateningly. Sakura felt something softly bite her leg. She looked down at Arashi, who instantly let go of her.

"_Snap out of it Sakura. We need you to beat this guy."_

Sakura shook her head, as if awaking from a daze and looked at Sasuke. Suddenly she felt very annoyed with herself. She was the leader of the pack! She was supposed to lead her wolves in battle, not the other way around! She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, when she opened them again they were a beautiful combination of turquoise and white.

"Getsugan."

Arashi, Bakura and Hyouga copied her actions, activating their getsugan as well. Sasuke looked in surprise at his teammate and her furry comrades His surprise was also visible in his aura, along with seriousness, confusion and confidence, he was still sure he would win. Just like her Sasuke activated his kekkei genkai, sharingan eyes gave her a hard stare. Yet the confusion in his aura made his eyes a lot less intimidating.

"Since when did you have a kekkei genkai?"

Hyouga snorted. _"I remember you saying that he was a genius in everything he did. I'm sure that it doesn't take a genius to figure out the answer to that question."_

Sakura sighed. Hyouga was right, it was a stupid question. "Since I was born." She rushed at Sasuke, followed by her wolves. Sasuke easily blocked all their attacks, just like Sakura had expected. After all, his sharingan allowed him to read her movement. She needed a plan in order to defeat Sasuke.

But first she needed a distraction. She used one hand to search through her weapon pouch, finding the ideal distraction for the sharingan user. A light bomb, the flash would force him to cover his eyes and in that moment she and her wolves would hide. Sakura threw the small object in Sasuke's direction. She whipped her head around to her wolves.

"Hide."

The light bomb exploded and Sasuke covered his eyes. Sakura and Bakura hid behind a tree while Hyouga and Arashi disappeared behind a bush. The sharingan could see chakra but unlike the byakugan it couldn't see through trees. Now Sakura had the time to think up a plan…

She made the tiger seal and performed the Shikyaku no Jutsu. She smiled at Bakura, who looked at her expectantly and formed another seal. In a poof of smoke an exact copy of herself looked at her.

"Distract him for now."

Bakura nodded and disappeared. Sakura grabbed the wolf whistle around her neck and placed it at her lips. A sound unheard by her rang through the forest. Soon Hyouga and Arashi appeared in front of her.

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Sasuke frowned as Sakura appeared right in front of him. Sakura was smart and knew the basics of a ninja. It would be a Naruto thing to just jump out like that. It was no clone. That much he could tell from the clear chakra signature. What was she planning…?

A dull thud sounded behind him. Sasuke looked from the corner of his eye to see another Sakura. This one was just as real as the other. Did Sakura know the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu?

Both Sakura attacked him, forcing Sasuke to turn his attention to the fight as he fought both of them at once with taijutsu alone. He found himself getting a few small scratches from the claws that just managed to nick his skin. He blocked a punch from one of them while landing a roundhouse kick on the other, sending the girl flying into a tree. She fell to the ground with a loud thud and made no move to get up again, in a poof of smoke her body disappeared and replaced by an unconscious grey wolf pup.

Sasuke's eyes widened as he felt the wind shift in front of him, a third Sakura had appeared. He jumped out of the way of her punch while blocking the punch from the other Sakura. He jumped backwards a few metres, allowing some distance between him and his opponents. His mind racing. _'I understand now that the clones are really the wolves. But then where is the real Sakura?'_

The Sakura who had just appeared began to rush at him, holding one hand back that began to glow yellow. Sasuke tensed, ready to react to what she was planning. His sharingan told him she was going to hit the ground and that confused him. What good would that do? Sakura's hand clenched into a fist and she hit the ground. The earth began to split open, he jumped into the air to avoid any rocks from hitting him. The Sakura underneath him locked her getsugan eyes with his own sharingan.

"Now Arashi!"

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Sakura smiled inwardly as soon as Sasuke jumped into the air, shocked by the strength of her attack. Her plan had worked.

"Now Arashi!"

Arashi appeared in the air, above Sasuke. Sakura made a handsign and Arashi transformed into a clone of herself. Sasuke's eyes widened as he realised that he was being attacked from behind. He blocked Arashi's kick and the punch that came immediately afterwards.

Sakura jumped up and used Sasuke's distraction to her advantage. She landed a solid hit on his stomach. Sasuke doubled over and dropped to the ground. Sakura and Arashi landed next to him. Both their eyes widened, he didn't have an aura anymore.

Sasuke disappeared in a poof of smoke, replaced by a log. Suddenly Arashi collapsed next to her, turning back into his wolf form instantly. She swiftly turned around and blocked the attack that was meant to knock her out as well. Sasuke jumped back, sharingan ablaze and clutching his stomach.

Hyouga appeared next to Sakura, carrying the unconscious Bakura. Sakura nodded at her wolf. He placed Bakura on the ground before looking at Sasuke. Sakura got down on one knee and held out her left arm. The two unconscious wolves turned into chakra clouds and merged with her arm, leaving two pawprint seals behind. Sakura looked up at Sasuke, who had recovered from the blow to his stomach.

The Uchiha began to rapidly throw shuriken in the direction of Sakura and Hyouga. Sakura realised too late that strings were attached to the shuriken. _'No!' _Both Hyouga and she were tied to a tree. Hyouga however turned into a log as soon as his body collided with the rough surface of the tree. Sakura smiled. Hyouga had thought ahead.

The wolf, still disguised as her jumped out from behind a tree. But before Hyouga could free Sakura he was stopped by Sasuke, the two engaged into hand to hand combat while Sakura tried to free one of her hands to cut the strings that imprisoned her. Her eyes went wide as she saw Sasuke kick Hyouga up in the air, realising what was coming.

"Shishi Rendan!"

Sasuke's Lion Combo ended with Hyouga turning back into his own form, unconscious and a small amount of blood dripping from his mouth. Sakura cut the wires that were holding her back, Sasuke was tired from the fight. Taking his slow reaction timing to her advantage she kicked him in the stomach. Her kick was enhanced with the Yasei Seishou, causing Sasuke to be thrown backwards at least five metres.

He looked up at Sakura from the ground, just like him she was panting. Sakura saw red appear in his aura, meaning that he was angry. She glared at him, instantly making bright green, the colour of surprise blending into his aura.

"All right that's enough."

Both genin looked at the silver haired jounin, who was now accompanied by Hana and Tsume. Hana rushed over to Hyouga, her hands glowing green as she examined the young wolf for any injuries. Sakura moved to sit next to the two, deactivating her bloodline limit as she did so.

"Will he be alright?"

Hana nodded. "He'll be awake in a few minutes. That was quite a good fight by the way."

Sakura smiled. "Thanks." Sasuke's footsteps approached them until he was standing right behind Sakura. She felt his eyes bore into her back and suddenly realised that she had actually punched her crush quite hard. Had she just ruined all her chances with Sasuke?

She looked up at the scowling Uchiha with an uneasy smile. "Uhhm, Sasuke-kun. Are you all right?"

"Hn."

She was just going to take that as a yes. Sakura bit her thumb and created a line of blood on the two pawprints on her arms. She summoned Arashi and Bakura, both still unconscious.

"Could you take a look at them as well Hana?"

"Sure."

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Kakashi didn't allow his eyes to leave his students and the chuunin who was healing the wolves as he spoke to Tsume.

"You've trained her well."

Tsume grinned. "She's improved a lot ne?"

Kakashi nodded, more to himself than to Tsume. "She has, I'm almost starting to doubt that letting them spar against each other was a good idea."

Tsume looked at him and lifted an eyebrow. "Why is that?"

"Sasuke is determined to become stronger for his revenge. Seeing that Sakura has become this strong in the time span of a few weeks makes him feel unsure about his own improvement. Especially since he often regarded Sakura as weak, now she is almost his equal."

Tsume sighed. "And no one in this village knows the true extent of the Ookamiza clan's power."

Kakashi nodded. "At this rate Sakura might even surpass Sasuke."

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End of chapter 8. Please review!


	9. Pursuing A Demon

**Disclaimer:**I do not own Naruto.

I know this chapter took a while, the amount of school work kept me from writing. I will try to update more often.

Because many people have asked me this question, **the pairing in this story will be GaaxSaku. **I haven't mentioned much about it because it will take some time before I get to that part. But there will be a few hints.

For the Reviewers:

**maleija:** Orochimaru's a ninja isn't he? I'm sure he had some kind of trick up his sleeve. : P

**ItaDeiPei:** I think this chapter will answer your question.

**Sin Piepad:** I don't want to make Sakura out of character, so yeah, she still likes Sasuke.

**The Sociopathism of T****rees:** Lol, I put a lot of thinking into my plots. I doubt you'll be able to guess what is going to happen.

**EternallyInTheShadows:**Thanks for the compliment. And your question is interesting, can she turn into a wolf?... I suppose you'll have to keep reading to find out : P

**missladylaura, kallou, xxbochixx, Nikooru-sama, Jackie-chan1230, Black Fire Blossom, Sakura is number 1, caga2007, Freaked Out Angel, Northernlights25, Eyes of a Black Dragon, hasocdaboutanime, TheRYU, EdwardIs4Me, shadow-binder: **Thanks to all of you for reviewing!!

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**Chapter 9:**** Pursuing A Demon**

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The confidence that Sakura had gained from her fight with Sasuke about two weeks ago was barely even there when she made her way to the arena. Today was the big day; everyone was excited about the final stage of the chuunin exams. Sakura picked up a few of the things the civilians were saying.

"I heard that the last of the Uchiha clan is fighting today!"

"Sand has sent some really strong genin this year, apparently someone of the Aburame clan is fighting one of them."

"I can't believe that lazy Nara kid is actually in the finals!"

"You know I really feel sorry for the kid who's going up against Hyuuga Neji."

"Did you hear? That girl who injured Ino is fighting as well. There's probably going to be a lot of blood in that battle."

Sakura rubbed the skin of her left arm, where three pawprint seals were. The wolves said they wanted to stay hidden for as long as possible. She took a deep breath, fighting back the nerves. This was it. To her surprise a familiar scent was approaching her, Kiba jumped out from a tree. Akamaru barked in greeting from his spot on Kiba's head.

"Hey Sakura."

"Hey Kiba."

Sakura had been training with the Inuzuka boy the last few days. And yesterday she had dinner with the whole Inuzuka family. Kiba held his hand out, revealing a small red pouch with an interesting aroma radiating from it. He grinned at her.

"Food pills. I thought they would be useful. Now you're ready to kick some Sound shinobi ass."

Sakura smiled at him. "Thanks."

"Good luck. I'll be cheering for you!"

With that he jumped back into the trees, racing for the other entrance of the building.

Sakura walked into the stadium, entering a dark room where the other contestants were waiting. She scanned the room, finding that Naruto, Sasuke and Dosu were missing. _'Great. My teammates _and_ my opponent are missing.' _

"Hey."

Sakura turned at the bored sound of Shikamaru's voice. "Where are your teammates?"

Sakura sighed. "I don't know."

Sakura felt eyes on her, she turned slightly and met Gaara's cold gaze for a second. She turned away immediately. The redheaded boy was definitely dangerous, and Sakura unfortunate enough to be one of the few things that caught his interest. And what was with that warning he had given her?

A brown haired jounin entered the room. In his mouth he held a toothpick while he looked at the finalists.

"Looks like we're missing a few. Well, we're going to have to enter the arena now. The audience is waiting to see you guys. Remember, you're each representing your country and village during these matches. Give it everything you've got. I am Shiranui Genma, the proctor of the last part of the chuunin exams."

With that he led the group out into the blinding sunlight and the sound of cheering crowds. Sakura swallowed nervously. _'So many people.'_

"What a drag."

Sakura nodded in agreement. The group moved to the middle of the field. A scream echoed from the room they had just left. If Sakura guessed correct that scream belonged to…

An orange clad figure flew into the arena, landing in front of the finalists and jumping up immediately, yelling something along the lines of 'we are under attack' and 'evil bulls'.

…Naruto.

Sakura felt relieved and angry at the same time. "Naruto where were you?!"

"…I got lost on the road of life." It sounded more like a question then an answer. Either way this response annoyed Sakura. "Where's Sasuke?"

Naruto's face was suddenly blank. "He's not here?"

Sakura shook her head. Naruto frowned. "Stupid Teme, he better be here for his fight or I'll make him regret it."

That was… unlike Naruto. His cerulean eyes wandered over and glared at Gaara. Sakura's eyes shifted from one to the other, Naruto was acting weird. Suddenly he smiled at her again.

"You look great Sakura-chan! Do you want to have ramen with me after the finals? Don't worry, I'll pay!"

And just like that the good old Naruto was back. Sakura ignored the question as the crowd quieted down. Sakura looked up to see the hokage standing.

"Thanks everyone for coming to the Konohagakure chuunin selection exam. We will now start the main tournament matches."

The crowd cheered once more and Genma turned around to speak to the participants. But Naruto beat him to it.

"Ne Sasuke isn't here yet. What are we going to do?"

"If Sasuke doesn't appear by the time of his match he will be disqualified. Now listen. The rules are the same as in the preliminaries. You fight until one of you dies, gives up or if I determine that there is a winner, for the first match: Uzumaki Naruto and Hyuuga Neji. Those two stay while the rest go to the waiting room."

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Naruto returned from his fight with a wide grin on his face. Sakura couldn't help but smile at him.

"You were amazing Naruto!"

"Thanks Sakura-chan! Next year I'll become jounin and the year after I'll be hokage- Where's Sasuke?! He's going to miss his fight!"

The crowd's complaints were loud, their patience was running thin. After all, most had come to watch the Uchiha survivor. Another jounin appeared next to Genma and whisper something in his ear before disappearing again in a poof of smoke. Genma spoke.

"Ladies and gentleman, seeing as Uchiha Sasuke has not arrived yet we will push this match back and begin with the next one! If neither Uchiha Sasuke nor Kinuta Dosu show up by then they will be disqualified and the last match will be between Subaku no Gaara and Ookamiza Sakura."

Sakura's heartbeat raced as she heard those words. _'I'll have to fight him!!' _She glanced at Gaara, who was staring right at her with malicious intent. If possible her heart began to beat even faster and a shiver ran down her spine. This boy could kill her and he most likely would if he were to get the chance.

"Ne Sakura-chan, don't worry. Teme will show up."

Sakura took a deep breath. "Let's hope so."

Next to them Kankuro raised his hand. "Proctor I forfeit this match, please go on to the next one."

Sakura stared at the puppet master incredulously. He was in the finals and now of all times he had the nerve to give up!? Genma lifted an eyebrow before shrugging.

"Next up: Temari and Nara Shikamaru. Please come down."

Temari whipped out her fan and used it to fly down to the battlefield. Shikamaru was muttering about how troublesome these exams were when Naruto pretty much pushed him over the railing. "Go get her Shikamaru!"

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Naruto stared wide eyed at Shikamaru. "…He gave up!!" He jumped down to the battlefield. Sakura growled softly in annoyance before jumping after him. Naruto wasted no time to tell Shikamaru what he thought.

"How could you just give up like that?! You idiot!"

"Who do you think you're calling an idiot? You idiot."

"But-"

"Shouldn't we be thinking about the next match?"

Naruto shut up immediately. "Sasuke. Where is the teme!?"

Sakura breathed nervously. Sasuke wasn't here. She was going to have to fight Gaara. Why would Sasuke of all people _not _show up for this?! Had something happened to him? Genma looked at her.

"Seeing as Uchiha Sasuke has not arrived you wi-"

The wind picked up and in a swirl of leaves two figures appeared. Naruto grinned widely. "See, I told you he'd come!"

Sasuke smirked. "Hn. Dobe, Sakura."

Sakura nodded back at him, albeit reluctantly. Something was different about him. He seemed so… confident. She was tempted to have a look at his aura but decided against it. Kakashi rubbed the back of his head.

"I know we're sort of late. Did Sasuke get… disqualified?"

Genma sighed. "I suppose he can't help being late with you as his teacher. You were just in time. Naruto, Shikamaru, Sakura, please go back to the waiting room."

Naruto turned to Sasuke. "You better win Sasuke, because I want to fight you as well."

Sakura couldn't help but let the words slip from her mouth. "And I want to fight you for real as well Sasuke."

Both boys turned to look at her. From the look on Naruto's face Sakura guessed that his aura would be completely bright green by now. But his surprised look quickly changed to a happy grin. Sasuke nodded in response. After all, she had had the advantage in the last fight. She had known all of Sasuke's abilities, but hers had been a mystery to him. Not to mention they had never actually finished their fight as Kakashi had stepped in.

A smug look appeared on Sasuke's face as he eyed his two teammates. "Understood."

Sakura took one last glance at the Uchiha before following Naruto and Shikamaru back to the waiting room. Silently they walked up the stairs, until Naruto decided to speak.

"So now Teme's here there's only your opponent who's missing Sakura-chan."

Shikamaru grumbled. "How troublesome. That would mean one of us has to fight an extra match."

Sakura sniffed the air. "Stop walking." Naruto and Shikamaru stopped and looked at her questioningly. Sakura had already turned around and looked at the hallway where she smelled three people, one of them without doubt being Gaara. Voices came in whispers, making it impossible to comprehend what was being said.

It became quiet. Everyone waited for something to happen, a voice that would answer the whispered words. But it never came. Instead the sound of breaking glass echoed through the hallways as everything became darker. Then a dying scream rang through everyone's ears, blocking out any other sound. The smell of blood overwhelmed Sakura's sensitive nose, so much of it that she began to feel nauseous.

A man came running in their direction, screaming for help. But the three Konoha shinobi were immobilized by fear and could only watch as sand gripped the man's legs, pulling him back into the darkness. And for the second time a dying scream rang through their heads.

Sakura, Shikamaru and Naruto had lost their ability to move after witnessing the two men being murdered in cold blood. The silhouette of a boy that could be no other then Gaara calmly walked out of the hallway. Cold eyes regarded the Konoha shinobi for a moment before he walked further, towards the stairs they were still standing on.

Sakura could hear her own heartbeat, as if reminding her that these could very well be the last seconds she would hear it. She stayed still as Gaara's movement stopped when he was right behind her. The feel of his body heat on her back gave her the feeling that the rest of her body was freezing. He was standing so close to her that she could feel his warm breath on the back of her neck.

She could see Naruto's head turn slightly to look over his shoulder. His already wide eyes widened even further as he could see the crimson haired demon standing so close to his teammate. The look of pure terror on the blond's face made Sakura's fear even greater.

Gaara's breathing became heavier. The only thoughts that could enter Sakura's mind where those of certain death. She stiffened even more as Gaara leaned in and sniffed her neck, making goose bumps appear on her skin. The sand user sighed deeply as he inhaled her scent. Sakura waited for the sand to wrap around her, but it never did. Instead Gaara straightened up again and walked past her, descending the stairs without even glancing at Naruto or Shikamaru.

As soon as he disappeared from their view they all slumped to the ground. Sakura let out a deep breath she didn't even know she had been holding. All three genin were trying to calm down their racing hearts. Naruto finally found back the ability to speak.

"Wow, I've never seen anyone kill like that… You alright Sakura-chan?"

Sakura was still trying to calm down her rapid breathing. Unconsciously she placed a hand over the spot on her neck that felt like it was on fire.

"You know he could have killed us." Shikamaru's shaky voice spoke, still trying to calm down as well. "But he didn't."

Naruto's clenched his hands into fists. "We're not the ones he wants to kill right now."

Sakura gasped. "Sasuke-kun!" All her fear was instantly replaced by worry for the Uchiha survivor. Naruto nodded.

"We have to find Kakashi-sensei. Teme will die if we don't stop this fight."

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"Kakashi-sensei!"

The jounin turned around and looked at the three genin that were now standing right in front of him. Naruto was first to recover.

"Kakashi-sensei you have to stop this match!"

The jounin merely blinked. "What?"

Sakura looked at him urgently. "Please Kakashi-sensei. You have no idea how dangerous that guy from the Sand Village is."

Kakashi turned around again and looked at the battle ground where Sasuke was trying to break through a huge orb of sand. "We'll see."

Naruto growled in frustration. "Didn't you hear us?! Sasuke is going t-"

"Just shut up and watch."

Naruto looked taken aback by the tone of his teacher. "What?"

Kakashi smiled underneath his mask. "We had a reason as to why we were late. You know Sakura, that sparring match with you gave him the extra push he needed."

"What?" Sakura looked at Sasuke who was now crouched on a wall. He made a few handsigns and his hands began to glow with electricity. Sakura gaped at the sight of the jutsu Kakashi had used in the Wave Country.

Sakura woke up from her shock when she heard Gai's voice, she only realized then that Lee and Gai were there as well. "Kakashi, you didn't."

She could see Kakashi smirk underneath his mask. "I taught him the chidori."

Sasuke ran down the wall, ready to strike. He dodged a few spikes of sand before slamming his lightning engulfed arm into the orb of sand, penetrating the thick grainy wall that was protecting Gaara. All was still.

Sakura stared at Sasuke. He had mastered an A-class assassination jutsu! Just like that he was once again miles ahead of her. He truly was a genius.

A bloodcurdling scream rang through the arena, turning into what sounded like the roar of an enraged beast. Sasuke began to pull his hand out of the wall of sand, pulling out what seemed to be some sort of arm with him. The crowd had gone quiet.

The shell of sand began to break, revealing Gaara holding his heavily injured shoulder.

"Hey what's happening?"

White feathers were floating around everywhere, just looking at them made Sakura feel drowsy. It wouldn't hurt to take a little nap would it?... _'Genjutsu!'_ Sakura reacted quickly, bringing her hand to her mouth she bit, drawing blood with her sharp canines. Her mind began to clear. Suddenly Kakashi was standing in front of her, holding a limp Sound ninja. He dropped the body unceremoniously and lifted his hitae ate, revealing a single blood red sharingan.

"We're under attack. Sakura, wake up Naruto and Shikamaru."

"Hai."

She bent down next to Naruto but first looked at the obviously faking Shikamaru. The coward didn't want to get involved. Sakura reached over and slapped Shikamaru in the face, hard. The lazy shadow user shot up and rubbed his sore cheek.

"Itai!"

Sakura smiled at him sweetly. "Ooh sorry, I didn't think you were awake. But seeing as you are could you please release the genjutsu on Naruto?"

"Tch." Shikamaru made a quick handsign and released the genjutsu on the blond. Naruto sat up slowly.

"Eh… What's happening?"

Kakashi appeared in front of them, saving Sakura from having to explain everything. "We are under attack. Sasuke is in pursuit of the Sand genin, I want you three to go after them. Stop Sasuke and bring him to a safe location. Sakura will use her sense of smell to track him down."

What sounded like an explosion made everyone look up to where the hokage had been sitting, now that area was surrounded by a purple barrier. The old man was facing a tall figure with pale skin and long black hair, Sakura's hands clenched into fists. The scent of that man would forever be carved into her memory, anger made her blood boil. Naruto noticed.

"Sakura-chan, what's wrong?"

"Him… Orochimaru, he's the one who destroyed my clan!"

Kakashi glanced at her. "Sakura, I know you would want to get even with Orochimaru. But that won't help anyone. Save Sasuke, he's the one who needs help right now."

Naruto took Sakura's hand and led her to a hole in the wall. Sakura tore her eyes away from the snake sannin. She would stand no chance against him, but she would stop any Sound ninja that happened to cross her path, anything to stop Orochimaru from destroying the village like he destroyed her clan.

"Come on Shikamaru."

"Why do I always get involved in these troublesome situations?"

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The third calmly watched his former pupil. "You're not the kind of man to act on only vengeance, Orochimaru. What do you wish to reach by starting a war?"

A sick smirk appeared on the pale face of the ex-Konoha shinobi. "Things are dull when they are not in motion."

"You believe that the world is at a standstill because there is peace?"

"Not necessarily. But people shouldn't be so used to peace. I intend to not only start an all out war, I want to wipe Konohagakure no Sato of the face of the earth."

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Sakura had been leading the group through the forest. Everyone was silent and it annoyed her to no end, she needed a distraction after seeing the snake sannin again. Her nose picked up a new set of smells that instantly took away all thoughts of Orochimaru.

"Naruto, Shikamaru we're being followed."

Naruto's eyes widened while Shikamaru's eyes narrowed. "How many?"

"I believe there are eight." Sakura sniffed the air again. "No, there's one more. Nine ninja are chasing us."

"Kuso! We'll be killed if they catch up to us. They're probably all chuunin level or higher."

Naruto growled at Shikamaru's words. "Then why don't we ambush them!?"

Sakura nodded. "That could work."

"No, it wouldn't."

"And why wouldn't it!?"

"Stop yelling Naruto, there's too many undecided factors involved. And the enemy's ninja squad is most likely trained for this plan, where as we were put together for this mission because we were the only ones available."

Sakura's brow furrowed. "Well if an ambush won't work then what will?"

"Only one thing will work." Shikamaru took a deep breath before continuing. "We need to create a diversion. One of us has to stay behind and fake an ambush in order to delay them."

Sakura could feel a lump forming in her throat. "Like a decoy. But that means…"

"The one who stays behind will probably… die."

The group stopped moving, all contemplating on what to do. None of them wanted to die, all for their own specific reasons. Shikamaru sighed.

"I'm the only one who can do it."

Naruto clenched his hands into fists. "Why would you have to sacrifice your life!?"

"Think about it. Sakura is needed to track Sasuke down and if we were to catch up to the Sand team, well… Out of Sasuke, Sakura, you and me I think you're the only one who's got what it takes to defeat Gaara, Naruto."

Naruto looked wide eyed at Shikamaru's words before looking at his feet, not allowing his fellow genin to see his eyes. Shikamaru turned around. Facing the direction they had come from. He looked over his shoulder and smirked lazily.

"Besides, Kagemane no Jutsu was created as a delaying tactic."

Naruto looked up again, many different emotions raging in his eyes. "You better catch up to us."

Shikamaru shrugged. "It's troublesome, but I will. Now hurry up and go!"

Sakura nodded. "Good luck Shikamaru."

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"You're no longer human. You're a demon!"

Maniacal laughter reached the ears of the hokage. The old man stared in disbelief at what once was his prized student, alongside Orochimaru stood the resurrected bodies of the shodaime and the nidaime hokage.

"Yes sensei, I have completed the immortality jutsu. By pouring my soul into a young and stronger body I can maintain my youth and increase the time I have in this world. I am truly grateful to you and your village for preparing my next body so well."

Sarutobi's eyes widened. "Uchiha Sasuke!"

Orochimaru smirked before tearing of another layer of skin, revealing the face of a man who seemed even more twisted then a few minutes ago. "Glad you're catching on."

The hokage calmed down before looking at Orochimaru again. "Still, why not wait and build up your forces so you wouldn't have to rely on the aid of the Sand village? Why not wait until Sasuke's sharingan is at its strongest?"

"I came across an unexpected opportunity." Orochimaru laughed quietly. "I have to say Katsurou's shamanism was amazing. I didn't even recognize her when I encountered her during the chuunin exams."

This time Sarutobi glared at him. "What could you possibly want from her? If an Ookamiza body is what you wanted then wouldn't you have taken one when you annihilated the clan!?"

"I tried sensei. But it proved to be impossible, I would have had to separate my soul to take over not only the Ookamiza but also the three wolves they are bound together with. The jutsu failed and I was forced to take over one of my own shinobi." The disgruntled man looked up at his opponent.

"It is not the getsugan that I want."

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"They've stopped moving."

Sakura could feel Naruto's cerulean gaze on her. "Then we can catch up to them, right Sakura-chan."

The getsugan user stopped moving all of a sudden, looking ahead with a blank expression. Goosebumps appeared on her skin. Naruto looked at his teammate with worry.

"Sakura-chan?"

"We have to hurry. Sasuke-kun's in danger!"

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Kakashi pressed his kunai to the throat of his opponent, Kabuto. "I have some questions for you."

The medic smirked. "Shoot."

The kunai was pressed against his skin, drawing a thin line of blood. "It is clear Orochimaru is after Sasuke. What about Sakura?"

The medic sighed, unmoved by the kunai that could end his life at any moment. "I should really feel sorry for you Kakashi. You're about to lose two of your students."

"Answer my question."

"…Kakashi-san did you know that Orochimaru-sama is gifted with the ability of shamanism?"

Sensing the jounin's surprise Kabuto elbowed the man in the stomach and jumped away from him, quickly healing the cut on his neck. The silver haired medic smirked evilly.

"Any moment now, Sakura's memory of Konoha will be erased. Sealed by the shaman jutsu Orochimaru-sama used on her."

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"Then what are you after Orochimaru?"

The man licked his pale lips before answering. "The snowspirit."

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The wind user of the sand team was fleeing from the battle scene by the time Naruto and Sakura arrived. The groaning of wood signalled that trees were being destroyed and dust floated everywhere. A limp figure lay immobilised on a branch.

The curse mark had already spread over Sasuke's body. A strange creature was perched on a branch not to far away from the struggling Uchiha. It seemed to be half man half beast, but when its face was revealed Sakura forgot to breathe. It was Gaara, his sand engulfing the right side of his body, taking the shape of a monster.

Their eyes met and Sakura remained frozen on her spot. One eye was that of a demon thirsting for blood, the other was that of a boy suffering something far worse then physical pain could ever cause. Gaara tore his eyes away from her and glared murderously at Sasuke. He leapt. His sand claw ready to crush the defenceless boy.

Sakura reacted on an impulse. She jumped in front of her teammate, her mind racing to find the best way to attack the sand demon. The only thing in her arsenal strong enough to harm him was Yasei Seishou. Sakura got in a fighting stance and activated the getsugan. Big mistake.

She stood frozen in fear at the sight of his aura. That was even more menacing then the last time. Her mind didn't even register him coming closer to her.

"Get out of my way!"

The claw swept her away faster then she could blink. Her back met harsh bark of a tree that was still standing while the claw pinned her there. The getsugan deactivated as her head smashed into the tree. Her vision began to blur, vaguely she registered Naruto and Sasuke calling her name.

The last thing she saw before slipping into unconsciousness was Gaara. The demon's eye looked at her with sadistic glee the other sea foam eye looked at her with…regret?

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"Don't you dare to kill her!"

Naruto's fear was overwhelmed by anger. The demonic sand nin slowly turned his head and growled at him.

"I'll decide what I will do to her…" His murderous eyes shifted to Sasuke. "After I've killed him!"

Naruto stood there, unmoving. The kyuubi was reacting to his strong emotion, causing his chakra flow to become stronger. Sasuke got back on his feet with great effort.

"Naruto we don't stand a chance against him."

Naruto showed no signs of hearing his friend, his whole body was tense. After a few moments he finally answered.

"I know… But I've become stronger! I will defeat this guy to save Sakura-chan!"

He bit his thumb and made a series of quick handsigns. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

…

"Naruto you _fool_!" Sasuke hissed while he looked at the toad that was about the size of a hand.

Naruto almost fell out of the tree at the sight of his summoning. "All that training… for this!?"

The amphibian blinked and looked around himself. "Got any snacks kid?"

"What are you doing here!? The chief was supposed to come!"

Something in between a feral growl and mocking laughter rang from across the clearing. Gaara's entire face had become engulfed by the sand while they were distracted.

"Is that all you can do?"

Naruto clenched his fists. His eyes travelling from his demonic opponent to his emerald eyed friend and back. White particles began to appear in his vision. He blinked, expecting them to disappear. But they didn't. He looked up at the source of where they were coming from, the sky. Behind him he could hear Sasuke whisper.

"Snow…"

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End of chapter 9.

Please review!! : )


	10. Confluence

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto.

For the Reviewers:

**kallou:** Sorry, I'm not going to reveal anything about my plot : P I suppose you'll have to keep reading to find out.

**Tora ****Hoshigaki: **Thanks for the compliment, it made me smile : )

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**NorthernLights25, Nikooru-sama, -OO-Infinity-OO-, Icecream_Skittles_Addict, kaminariyoru, jackie-chan1230, xxbochixx, REDandBLACKlunerwolf, Eyes of a Black Dragon, Sadistic-Bitch, shadow-binder, Renee-chan11: **Thanks for your reviews!

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**Chapter 10:**** Confluence**

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Sakura opened her eyes, wincing at the throbbing pain in her head. She looked around, still feeling disorientated. She was in that starry night sky that was becoming more and more familiar. Shiki and Ito were sitting on either side of her, looking up. Sakura followed their line of vision.

A crescent moon was hovering above them. Snow was whirling down on them in small amounts.

"This is bad." Shiki growled slightly, the fur on his neck standing up.

Sakura rubbed her temple. "What's going on?"

"The snowspirit is… acting up." Ito answered, not taking his eyes of the celestial body looming over them.

Sakura moved in a sitting position faster then was good for her. The throbbing in her head became even worse. "How...? It's sealed. It shouldn't be able to do anything."

"It was sealed with shamanism. The strongest kind of seals there are. The only way it can be overcome is with another shamanist seal."

The temperature around them began to drop, causing Sakura to shiver. _'How is this even possible inside my own mind?'_

"Stay awake, Sakura." She wanted to snap at Shiki really badly, but her energy was beginning to leave her. She just wanted to sleep.

"If you fall asleep you will die. And you'll take Hyouga, Arashi and Bakura with you."

It took a few seconds before she registered what Ito said. She shook her throbbing head a few times. She couldn't die, no matter what happened.

"What do I have to do?"

Her throat felt dry, as if she hadn't had any water for days and the words came out in a croaked voice. Neither of the wolves took their eyes off of the crescent moon, but Shiki answered.

"Just stay awake."

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In a matter of minutes the wind had picked up and the snowfall increased. By now Naruto's frog summon had found a secure place in Naruto's pocket while the orange clad ninja and Sasuke were both using the tree for support while the snow was biting into their skin. Still they didn't dare to show any weakness to their opponent.

Gaara was now fully encased with the sand, every trace of a human gone, and hadn't moved one inch. He didn't even acknowledge their existence. All he was looking at was Sakura.

The Ookamiza girl didn't wake up even with the extremely low temperature. Sasuke hissed.

"Naruto we will freeze to death if this continues."

"What do you want me to do Teme!? I can barely move my fingers. How the hell can there be snow in the middle of summer!?"

Sasuke began to flex his fingers. His hands were numb from the cold by now and in no state to perform ninjutsu with. "It's not his doing… then the only other person who could be causing this is Sakura."

"Nani!? But how!?"

"I don't know."

Gaara had turned so his whole body was facing Sakura. Naruto growled, Kyuubi's chakra flared up and his eyes flickered red.

"Stay away from her!"

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They were surrounded by a whirlwind of snow. Sakura was fighting against sleep. Her eyelids were drooping and her whole body ached with the need to rest, she could barely think with the monstrous headache she had.

How this pain was even possible in her own mind she did not know. But she was certain it was no genjutsu. Her blurry vision could just identify the crescent moon hidden by the swirling snow. All she could hear was the wind until Ito and Shiki howled in unison.

The crescent moon glowed in response, but nothing else happened. Shiki growled angrily. "Kuso!"

Ito nudged her head, causing some of the drowsiness to lessen. "We cannot force the snowspirit to retreat back into the seal. Another shaman jutsu has set it free."

Sakura looked into Ito's amber eyes. "What's going to happen?"

"We don't know."

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"Naruto!"

Sasuke's cry fell to deaf ears as the blond haired boy jumped at the sand demon. The small frog hurriedly jumped out of his pocket and latched onto Sasuke's shoulder, eyeing the blond incredulously.

"He's crazy! There's no way he can beat that guy!"

Sasuke ignored the fact that a talking frog was clinging to his shoulder. He was about to jump after Naruto when a wave of pain coursed through his body. The cursed seal had still not receded. He hissed and dropped to his knees.

Gaara swatted Naruto away with his tail. The blond landed on a nearby branch, growling ferociously. His body became surrounded by red, clearly visible chakra.

Sasuke could only wince as the snow continued to attack, paining his skin and watch his best friend. "What the hell?"

Naruto's energy was almost as dangerous as Gaara's. The sand demon was no longer looking at the unconscious kunoichi but at the unusual opponent.

"Suna Shuriken." Sand shot at Naruto like bullets. He reacted just fast enough to get away, the wind howled while the snow continued to whirl around violently. Gaara growled threateningly.

"Are you finally going to fight?"

With incredible accuracy Naruto jumped of the branch and aimed to punch Gaara. Gaara effortlessly jumped out of the way and Naruto's chakra engulfed fist pulverized the branch he had been sitting on. The two continuously exchanged blows, the red chakra protected Naruto from Gaara's deadly claws, much to the irritation of said shinobi.

The sand creature opened its mouth, a ball of visible chakra that was just as red as the chakra surrounding Naruto gathered and shot the blond. The glowing orb of energy send the blond crashing through several trees.

Sasuke almost lost his footing, holding on only because of the chakra in his feet. The demon roared in victory. A blurry figure, no longer surrounded by ominous red chakra lay nearby on the ground.

"Naruto!"

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A five year old Sakura sat next to a fire, watching her brother and cousin arm wrestle. She tilted her head in confusion, not understanding why they were so competitive over such a silly game. The young Ookamiza girl sniffed the air. She had noticed something that the boys hadn't in their current state of concentration.

The older Sakura watched the familiar sight with half lidded eyes. Her head still pounding and exhaustion made it difficult to stay standing.

Another person walked into the large tent, taking of the wolf mask covering his face. A man with black and orange hair frowned at the two boys. Sensing the new presence the boys looked up, but not before Hibiki managed to pin Katsurou's wrist to the table. The boy grinned.

"I win again!"

The man's frown increased. "Hibiki aren't you supposed to be doing something?"

"Like what dad?"

Sakura blinked her drooping eyes. No wonder the man looked so much like Hibiki. He was her uncle!

"Like looking for the herbs your mother asked you to find."

Hibiki whined. "But dad, I don't want to go looking for herbs and other pretty flower thingies."

"Your mother has your little sister to take care of."

The younger Sakura jumped up. "I can go find the herbs for Ami-san!"

"That is very kind of you Sakura. But it was Hibiki who was asked to do this."

Katsurou chuckled. "Hibiki wouldn't know the difference between a dandelion and a rose. I'm sure it would save you a lot of trouble if Sakura looked for the herbs, Hiraku-san."

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Sakura blinked. She was in the whirlwind of snow again, Ito and Shiki at her sides. Memories from her time before she was found by the hokage were rushing into her head, if possible increasing the pounding in her head.

But it kept her from falling asleep, it made her think. _'Ami… my aunt.' _The image of a brown haired woman with blue-gray eyes appeared in her mind. The woman's nose was identical to Hibiki's. Ami, the civilian woman who used to live in the village near the mountain.

More of the blanks of her past became filled in. She remembered the day that Asuka, Hibiki's little sister was born.

The day that Ayumu, two weeks after he turned seventeen came home with the news that his girlfriend, who lived in a nearby village, was pregnant. And that Harumi had commented on him being more of a rabbit than a wolf. A month later the girl had moved in with the clan.

The time that Honoka and her older brother Shin left for a mission to the Tea Country. The time that the Ookamiza elder, Haruna was scolding her for taking the clay that was used for shamanism and use it for decorating a cave. Harumi doing her hair for her…

Shiki growled warningly. "Stay awake, Sakura!"

Her eyes wandered over to the black wolf. It was weird knowing that he was actually a part of her… Another image appeared in her mind. That of a girl with long blond hair and baby blue eyes, dressed in a purple outfit. _'…What was her name again?'_

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The blizzard was coming to an end. Sasuke sighed in relief as the snow stopped biting his tingling skin, it now whirled down calmly. Naruto was still disorientated, but both in their weakened state were still watching their opponent up in the tree.

Gaara once again deemed their teammate more interesting then them. He turned his head in Sakura's direction. The sand released her from its hold and her body slid down onto a branch.

Her eyes opened slowly. She watched the sand demon approach her slowly in a predator like way, but did nothing to flee. She stayed still as Gaara approached her.

Naruto growled. "Oh no, you don't!"

He jumped up and landed in front of Gaara, glaring at him fiercely. Sasuke ignored his aching body and jumped up, landing in front of Sakura. The frog on his shoulder voiced his thoughts.

"She doesn't look to good."

She didn't, Sakura's skin was pale and cold and her lips were purple. Her hands were shaking and her eyes gazed into his, as if unable to perceive anything.

Sasuke carefully reached out to touch her shaking hand, ignoring Gaara's disapproving growl from behind him. But before he could touch her the wind picked up again. But there was no snow this time.

He was forced to cover his eyes. But when he opened them again, Sakura was gone.

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Orochimaru averted his eyes from the exhausted old man in front of him to the sky.

His lips twitched upwards, causing a small smile to appear onto his pale face. He looked back at his old teacher, contentment twinkling in his snake like eyes.

"Konoha no longer has a getsugan user."

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Sakura groaned. Her head was pounding. She turned over so she was lying on her back. Her hand came in contact with water. She looked to the side to see her fingers touching the surface of a small river. She could hear a few birds chirping around her. Finally she noticed just how cold she was, and that she was… alone.

She sniffed the air for any familiar scents but found none. This was becoming strange…

She forced herself into a sitting position, ignoring how her body was screaming for rest and her mind was fuzzy. Her cold, shaking hands fumbled to get the wolf whistle around her neck. She blew on it as hard as she could, which was not very hard in her current state.

She waited. But after a few moments there was no response. There were no wolves anywhere nearby. She could feel the reassuring chakra sealed in her left arm. But other then that there was nothing.

She could smell someone heading her way. But these people were unfamiliar, one of them smelled almost… inhuman. She shivered, whether it was because of the cold or fear she didn't know. But she was vulnerable in her current condition. She could hear a roar of what sounded like an enraged beast, followed by an explosion some distance away from her.

Two dull thuds sounded not far away from her. Out of reflex she jumped up, facing the strangers.

"You shouldn't be moving in your condition."

Her vision was blurry and a new wave of pain coursed through her at the sudden movements she had made. She definitely wouldn't be able to fight like this. She directed some chakra to her optic nerves, activating her kekkei genkai to give her at least some kind of advantage.

But all it did was create two large colourful figures. She couldn't even identify their auras, but at least she knew where they were. She would still put up a fight. Unfortunately her body disagreed with her mind. Everything went black. The last thing she registered was strong hands catching her body before she hit the ground.

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Sakura could hear the familiar sound of a fire crackling. She felt something warm draped over her. But she was outside, and the air was warm and the comforting scents of the wolves and her clan were nowhere nearby. Instead there were two unknown scents.

She opened her eyes and waited for her vision to adjust. At the other side of the fire a pair of crimson eyes were watching her. She tensed up, unsure of what to do. The eerie eyes, strangely familiar just observed her for a moment.

The owner of the crimson orbs got up and gracefully moved towards where she was and sat down in front of her. He was in his late teens. His long, raven hair was tied in a low ponytail and everything about him showed that he was a shinobi of high capacity.

"What is your name?"

Sakura shifted under his scrutinizing gaze. "Sakura."

"Your full name?"

She hesitated for a moment, not sure whether it would be wise to give this stranger information about her. She knew that there were people who held a grudge against her clan.

"Don't test my patience Sakura-san."

She almost jumped at his voice. She had a feeling that she needed to remember some important things, but she couldn't. For now it would be best to answer this man's questions.

"Ookamiza Sakura."

"I see."

Sakura carefully sat up, keeping an eye on the man in front of her. When she put her weight on her left arm she winced, and came to realize that she needed to let her wolves out.

The man had noticed her discomfort but stayed quiet. Sakura remembered what her older brother had said when she got her wolves. Without any other choice she slowly lifted her hand to her mouth and bit her thumb. After creating a line of blood on the pawprints she summoned her wolves.

The man remained unmoved and watched the three young wolves appear, deeming them harmless. His eyes travelled from her wolves back to her and stayed there. Bakura shook his head, coming to his senses he moved in front of her and growled at the crimson eyed man. Arashi looked at her, his head tilted to the side.

"_Sakura you've changed __since the last time we saw you."_

Sakura tilted her head in confusion. "What?"

"_Well we haven't seen you since Katsurou used shaman jutsu on you on that… day."_

Hyouga was observing the man in front of her as well. Sakura raised one delicate hand to rub her temple. What wasn't she remembering? And why was she feeling so different?

"Sakura-san, my partner and I found you yesterday morning, you collapsed from exhaustion before any questions could be asked. I would like to know about your kekkei genkai."

Sakura looked at him warily. She was beginning to feel uncomfortable. "I'm not allowed to talk to strangers."

The corners of the man's mouth twitched in amusement. "My name is Uchiha Itachi. I will not allow you to go anywhere until you answer my questions. Tell me about your kekkei genkai."

Sakura swallowed. He wasn't giving her a choice. "It is called the getsugan. It allows me to see the auras of anyone I want. I can identify their emotions by colour."

"I see."

Sakura fumbled with the object that had functioned as blanket, finally noticing it was a black cloak with red clouds, the scent of the male in front of her was clinging to it. Itachi got up and moved back to his previous spot at the other side of the fire.

"We will wait for my partner to return. After we eat we will leave, and you're coming with us."

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End of chapter 10!

Did anyone expect this to happen? Please review!


	11. The Tower

**Disclaimer:**I do not own Naruto. But the Ookamiza clan idea is all mine.

Yay, I finally have more then a hundred reviews for this story! To be exact I have 110 reviews, 89 favourites and 83 alerts. Thanks to everyone who has ever reviewed this story! I really appreciate your comments. If you are reading this story but have not reviewed, I hope you will do so in the future.

For The Reviewers:

**Icecream Skittles Addict:**If this was part of Orochimaru's plan… no. I just wanted to entertain myself (and others) by ruining his plan.

**Sadistic-Bitch: **Haha, the last chapter was sort of short… but I had to keep the suspense going! I'm making up for that with this chapter, it's 5029 words. Disclaimers and replies to reviews not included. Am I forgiven? : )

**LarkasBlessing122291: **Thanks for continuing to read my story, and for reviewing of course! Ps. I'm going to call you Larka from now on, ok?

**The Sociopathism Of Trees: **Haha, I hoped this turn of events would be surprising for people! Yes, she has lost all her memories of Konoha. Poor Sakura… That's the second time.

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**kallou, NorthernLights25, Nikooru-sama, REDandBLACKlunerwolf, shadow-binder, dancingqueensillystring, nessa671, Eyes of a Black Dragon, midnightangel09:**Thanks to all of you for reviewing!

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**Chapter 11:**** The Tower**

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Itachi's partner, a tall, blue skinned man who introduced himself as Kisame had arrived not much later. In the meantime Sakura had talked to her wolves. And what she had failed to remember had come back to her, the massacre of her clan.

She had asked Itachi for the date and came to the shocking discovery that it had been six _years_ since that day! She was now thirteen years old but had no memory of the time that had passed since then.

She was still pondering about it while struggling to keep up with the two men in front of her. Hyouga, Arashi and Bakura were running with them as well, her arm still ached from the overuse of the pawprint seals. None of her wolves remembered anything of the past years. Which worried her as well, but there was a bigger problem.

She had given valuable information about herself to Kisame and Itachi. Now they forced her to follow them, Kisame had even said he would gladly kill her if she tried to run. _'What do they want from me?'_

Drops of water connected with her skin. Sakura looked up at the grey clouds. It was strange, minutes ago they were running under a clear sky. Now rain was pouring onto them. Itachi and Kisame had taken out a straw hat each and the cloak protected their bodies from the fine droplets.

"Welcome to the Rain Country."

Kisame chuckled as he looked over his shoulder at her drenched form. They continued running for hours, Sakura couldn't help but admire the stamina of the two men in front of her. They didn't show the smallest sign of fatigue. They had passed through a small village, the people there cowered away fearfully from Kisame and Itachi while she and her wolves received questioning glances.

Finally they reached a large city where the rain poured down even harder. She could see many shinobi walking around. Many people bowed in respect for Kisame and Itachi. Sakura's sense of smell gave her little information as the scents were washed away by the water. Her wolves seemed to be picking up a few things but kept the information to themselves.

When they reached the tallest building, in the centre of the city they finally stopped moving. Itachi turned to Kisame.

"I'll go talk to leader. You know what to do with her."

Kisame grinned. The large doors of the tower opened. Itachi walked up one set of stairs while Kisame motioned her to walk up another set of stairs.

She walked in front of Kisame, her wolves at her side. They were still wet but Sakura was too nervous to care. She had picked up the scents of a few incredibly strong shinobi. Several other people, who she guessed to be servants were located around the building as well.

On the fifth floor they stopped moving. Kisame knocked on the closed shoji screens, a young girl, who was about a head shorter then Sakura opened. She was wearing a black yukata, decorated with red clouds, the same pattern as the cloaks that Itachi and Kisame wore. Her dark purple hair was done in a neat bun with a fringe hiding most of her forehead. As soon as her lilac eyes landed on Kisame she bowed respectively.

The shark man grunted in response. "Make sure she is ready in an hour."

The girl nodded and motioned Sakura to follow her while Kisame disappeared in a poof of smoke. Bakura let out a series of barks.

"_Shouldn't we try to escape?"_

Sakura pondered, they probably should. The shinobi in this tower were strong, some of their scents were confusing, like Kisame's, it made her question if they were even human. The girl gazed at them with her misty lilac eyes before she smiled softly, almost sadly, before she spoke in an angelic voice.

"I know it's scary, you've got every right to be afraid. I was scared to when I was first brought here."

Sakura swallowed, looking the girl straight in the eyes. She could only be a year younger then her. "What is going to happen to me?"

The girl walked up another set of stairs. "When one enters this tower, they are either accepted into the organisation or killed."

Sakura abruptly stopped moving. "Killed…?"

The girl looked over her shoulder. "It is said that anyone who enters this tower will never leave again. I was one of the fortunate ones. Leader-sama accepted me because of my rare abilities."

"What do you mean?"

"Your life is in Leader-sama's hands. You were brought here because Itachi-sama and Kisame-sama believe you would be useful for the organisation; the Akatsuki."

Sakura glanced at her wolves. They seemed to be just as distressed as her. "What will happen if we are accepted?"

"Leader-sama will assign you as the subordinate of one of the Akatsuki members. You will be trained by your master and complete missions once you are considered ready."

The girl paused before she continued to walk up the stairs. "We should hurry. Leader-sama would be displeased if you were late."

Sakura nodded to her wolves and hurried after the girl.

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Sakura glanced at her reflection in the mirror. The room they had entered was a bathroom, with a dressing room next to it. After hurriedly showering, she and her wolves were clean, she had made sure to hide the seal on her forehead at all times. It was a good thing that she had to wear the hitai ate, Sakura just wondered how she got it...

She was now dressed in a pure black yukata with a black obi. She looked more ready for a funeral then anything else.

That thought hit her hard. She could very well die today, along with her wolves. The girl was looking through a box with hair accessories. Sakura bend down and whispered as quietly as possible in Bakura's ear.

"Tell Hyouga and Arashi we need to look for a way out."

"That would be futile. There is no way out of this tower unless you're allowed to leave."

Arashi yapped in surprise. _"There's no way she heard that!"_

The girl motioned Sakura to sit down. Sakura breathed nervously but did as requested and allowed the girl to work on her hair.

"You should not show your fear for Leader-sama. A shinobi is not allowed to show emotion."

"That doesn't really matter to me. I can see their emotion anyway." Sakura thought out loud before mentally slapping herself for letting those words slip from her mouth.

"You see emotion?"

Sakura grit her teeth, what was she doing? This girl could be an enemy to her for all she knew. The girl giggled, Sakura's attention snapped to how unearthly melodic her voice was. It had to be a kekkei genkai, no normal human had a voice like that.

"That is an amazing advantage on the battle field."

Bakura's ears twitched and he tilted his head. _"Was that a compliment?"_

Sakura relaxed ever so slightly. "Uhhm…Thanks."

The girl put her hair up in a high ponytail. The reflection in the mirror reminded Sakura painfully much of her mother. The girl got up and Sakura followed her example. They went back to the fifth floor, to the same room where she had seen the girl for the first time.

Now Sakura examined the room she had to admit it was beautiful. The room was traditional Japanese, with tatami mats and a low table. There was a window that stretched across the entire wall, showing an impressive view of the city. The lilac eyed girl closed the door behind them.

"We can sit down while we wait for word from Leader-sama."

Sakura nodded and sat down in front of the window. She watched the droplets of rain hit the glass, her mind was still pondering on what to do. She closed her eyes, her body needed rest and she needed answers… She had to talk to Ito and Shiki. She began meditating.

'_Ito… Shiki…'_

'**What is it Sakura?'**

Relief flooded over her as she heard Ito's voice. _'What happened? Why can't I remember anything from the last six years?'_

Shiki's rough voice answered. **'We don't know. But there are important things that we no longer remember. ' **

Any contact she had with her two other identities was severed because of the shoji screens sliding open. Sakura whipped her head around and met a pair of ruby eyes.

"I came to pick up the new girl."

The younger purple haired girl got up from her sitting position and bowed politely to the taller girl.

"She is ready to go Kigai-san."

Kigai was not much older then the other females in the room. Sakura guessed her to be seventeen, she was wearing the same yukata as the other girl. Black and decorated with red clouds. Her hair reached her waist and had a dark brown colour. The atmosphere around her proved that she was a skilled shinobi.

Sakura quietly got up, followed by her wolves. They walked out of the room behind Kigai. The purple haired girl said a soft goodbye before closing the door.

Sakura wordlessly followed the girl in front of her as they ascended to the higher floors of the tower. She had no idea how many stairs they had walked when the girl walked into one of the hallways, their footsteps being the only sound that was heard. Kigai stopped in front of a wooden door.

"I would suggest you hide your wolves for now."

"H-hai."

Sakura quietly sealed her wolves into her arm and looked at the door in front of her, the door to the room that she might not leave alive. She looked up at Kigai, who looked back with calm eyes.

"I'm not allowed in I'm afraid."

Sakura nodded. In the blink of an eye Kigai had disappeared. Swallowing nervously she opened the door and walked inside.

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The room was dimly lit, hiding the facial features of the occupants who were all staring at the emerald eyed girl. Sakura shifted nervously but tried to hide her fear as much as she could in the presence of the powerful chakras. She could smell Kisame and Itachi and a whole lot of people she didn't know.

Her eyes locked with a pair of gray ones that seemed to have multiple rings in them, like ripples in water. Sakura found it impossible to break contact with those hypnotic eyes.

"Come forward."

Her body moved on its own accord. The mere presence of the man in front of her was enough to make her obey. She came to a halt about four meters distance from him. She could now distinguish some of his features, many piercings adorned his face and his hair was fiery orange.

"According to the information I received your name is Ookamiza Sakura. Your kekkei genkai is called the getsugan, a doujutsu that perceives the emotions of your opponents. You have three wolves sealed in your left arm. Whom you are able to communicate with, is this true?"

Sakura nodded her head, not trusting herself to speak.

"And you have completed your ninja training in Konohagakure no Sato?"

'_Konohagakure no Sato? Where is that?' _Sakura shook of her thoughts. She had better not keep this man waiting for an answer.

"I don't remember."

The man was quiet for a moment. Sakura's discomfort grew. A rustle of clothing to her right caused her to break eye contact with the orange haired man in front of her. Something gleamed in the semi darkness before it shot at her with alarming speed.

Without thinking she jumped out of its way, creating more distance between herself and the intimidating man while she kept her eyes focused on her attacker. He smelled weird, like multiple people put together. A grunt was her response.

"She's got the reflexes of a ninja."

"If I require your assistance I will ask for it Kakuzu." The ripple eyed man spoke dangerously before addressing her again. "Sakura, what is the last thing you remember?"

Sakura cautiously looked back at him. "My brother using a jutsu on me to get me out of harm's way, but that was when I was seven."

The man was quiet, contemplating everything she had said. "Where do your loyalties lie?"

Sakura's mind went blank. Who was she loyal to…?

"I… I have no family or any other ties that I remember." _'What else can I say?'_

"Take of your hitai ate."

A look of shock appeared on her face. "What?"

"I want you to give me your forehead protector. You don't use it to hide anything." His lips formed a small smile. "Or do you?"

Sakura tensed. Never, not once had she exposed her forehead in front of an outsider, let alone a whole group of them. She even hid it in front of her clan.

The man got up and moved in front of her, eyes demanding that she take of her hitai ate. Grudgingly she complied. Her hands untied the ends of the cloth and removed it. She held it out to him. But the man didn't reach for it. Instead he looked at her forehead. Sakura resisted the urge to put the hitai ate back in place.

Their eyes met again, Sakura was vaguely aware of the forehead protector being taken from her. The man broke the eye contact and spoke.

"I have made my decision. Sasori, you will be in charge of her training. Keep me informed on the progress she makes. Dismissed."

He placed the hitai ate back in her hand and vanished in a poof of smoke as soon as those words left his mouth. One by one Sakura could sense presences disappearing until there was only one left.

That person stood up and made his way towards her. His scent was odd. He smelled like wood, not like anything you'd expect a living being to smell like. It was weird.

Sasori looked very young to be part of this dangerous group. He was not very tall and had red hair and soft brown, somehow glassy, eyes. But the air surrounding him was dangerous.

"We will start training tomorrow morning. Return to the room you were sent to when you arrived here. There will be someone who will show you where you will sleep."

Just like the others he disappeared, leaving a confused Sakura behind. She had to find her way back to that room herself? Was this a sign of trust or some kind of test? Pondering about it she turned around and left the room, thankfully alive.

Finding her way back would be no problem with her sense of smell. She put her hitai ate back in place, but not without noticing there was a big slash through it.

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When Sakura opened the door she could see Kigai and the purple haired girl from earlier sit at the table with a cup of green tea. Kigai seemed to find her tea more interesting to look at then Sakura, but the other girl met her with a smile.

"Welcome to the organization Sakura-san."

Kigai nodded and muttered a 'congratulations', still not looking up from her damping tea.

"Thank you."

Sakura wasn't sure if she meant those words, she supposed there weren't many other things she could have said. Deciding that the purple haired girl was the more talkative out of the two Sakura turned to her.

"Do you still have my other clothes?"

The girl shook her head and answered with her velvety voice. "No, servants are preparing a room for you as we speak. There will be clothes suited for training in the closet as well as clothing suited for after training."

Kigai's red eyes fixed themselves on the Ookamiza girl as well. "You will find you will not have much freedom until the Akatsuki are sure you are trustworthy. I suggest that you do not disobey your master."

Her master… _'Sasori.'_

The shoji screen opened. Another girl, probably fifteen years old walked in. Her long, wavy blonde hair reached her elbows and her pink eyes watched Sakura suspiciously. She was young, but still one of the most beautiful people Sakura had ever seen. Just like the other two girls she was wearing a black yukata with red clouds.

"Who's she?"

The purple haired girl nodded at the blonde respectively. "Good day Houseki. This is Sakura. She is the newest member of the organization."

Houseki raised an elegant eyebrow. "Oh really." Her eyes lit up as she scanned Sakura's forehead protector. "And she's from Konoha! Are there more hot guys there like Itachi-sama there?"

Sakura unknowingly took a step back from the girl's sudden excitement. "I… Don't remember."

All excitement died in the girl's eyes. "Ugh. You're no help at all."

The girl opened another shoji screen and disappeared into, what smelled like a kitchen. Sakura watched her leave with confusion. She could hear Kigai sigh.

"Don't mind her. Every ninja in this building is a missing-nin. The subordinates of the Akatsuki are no exception. Houseki grew up in a wealthy family. She was spoiled and also talented when it came to ninja arts. It came as a shock to her family and all of Iwagakure when she killed her boyfriend for cheating on her."

Sakura blinked. "She did what?"

The purple haired girl smiled lightly. "She has a violent temper. Just stay on her good side."

Houseki returned with a cup of tea and sat down next to Kigai. Sakura took the only vacant seat next to the obviously youngest member of the group.

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The food the servants had brought to them had probably been the best food Sakura had ever tasted. Hyouga, Arashi and Bakura had loved their food as well. Right now the purple haired girl was walking them to their new room. Much to Sakura's annoyance she had still not been able to find out the younger girl's name.

"Excuse me but what is your name?"

She turned around, her lilac eyes looking up to meet Sakura's. Once again she smiled. "I'm sorry for not introducing myself earlier. I am Suzu from Otogakure."

"Otogakure?"

Suzu cocked her head to the side. "Have you heard of it before?"

"It sounds familiar…"

Suzu shrugged. "I didn't like it there. I ran away because my clan's expectations from me were too high and because of the current leader of the village."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"Don't be, I'm glad I made my decision."

The two girls, followed by the three wolf pups stopped walking when they reached a plain wooden door. Sakura was silently thanking her good memory and sense of smell that would help her remember her way around this maze.

"This is your room Sakura-san. Good night."

Suzu disappeared in a poof of smoke.

Sakura sighed before opening the door to her new room. It was plain. A bed, a closet, a desk with a chair in front of the window, a couch and another door that probably led to a bathroom.

Her wolves began examining the room, sniffing everything thoroughly. Hyouga looked up at her.

"_The room is free from any traps."_

Sakura nodded. Wolves from the Ookamiza clan were trained to recognize traps by scent before they could even use chakra, in other words not long after they are bound to a human. Even when she was little Sakura always knew that the sense of smell of her wolves was far more accurate then her own.

"_Can we go to bed? I'm exhausted!" _Arashi whined and Sakura couldn't help but silently agree with him. The day had been utterly exhausting, physically as well as emotionally.

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Sakura groaned and lifted a hand to shield her eyes from the sunlight. The window, unfortunately, had no curtains. So she woke up to the bright sunrise. She sat up and brushed a hand through her hair. Pushing the sheets off of her she got out of bed, making sure not to disturb Arashi, who had claimed the end of her bed while Bakura and Hyouga shared the couch.

She looked at the curled up wolf pups on the couch. Bakura was peaceful and relaxed. Hyouga on the other hand was tense. She watched him intently. The fur on his neck was standing up and he growled lowly. Sakura became alarmed. Someone was in the room with them!

A figure materialized and lunged at her with a kunai faster then her mind could follow. Her body reacted on its own, stepping out of the way of the deadly weapon and lifting her arms to block when her attacker swung his arm to redirect his attack. Her arm made contact with a hard surface that left a stinging sensation on her skin.

Finally Sakura realized that the wielder of the kunai was none other then her new master, Sasori. He looked over her stance, her wolves. Who were all up now and finally he made eye contact with her.

"Not as good as I had hoped. Do not rely on your wolves to much for awareness. You need to be alert at all times. If my goal had been to assassinate you I would have succeeded."

Sasori stood up and put the kunai away. Unsure of what to do Sakura decided to bow respectfully to him before standing up herself. Sasori placed a small pouch on the desk before turning around, as he made his way to the exit he spoke.

"I want you to eat what is inside that pouch. Then get changed and meet me on the seventh floor."

Without waiting for a reply he left. Leaving Sakura and her wolves behind, Arashi barked quietly.

"_What have we gotten ourselves into?" _

Sakura sighed and opened the pouch. "Food pills?"

"_So we're training on an empty stomach?" _Bakura sounded disbelieving.

Sakura merely took out the four pills and fed one to each of her wolves, she ate the last one herself. Then she opened her closet and took out her training clothes, they were a lot like the pajamas she had gotten, a black shirt and black pants. But luckily there was a pair of knee high shinobi boots that came with it.

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Sasori was waiting for on the seventh floor. He nodded at her in acknowledgement and began to walk through the hallways while Sakura trailed after him with her wolves on her side. The walk was quiet until they reached their destination, a large training area.

Sakura had expected a room with bare, gray walls. Instead the room looked like a traditional dojo. Sasori was waiting for her on the side, his feet not touching the wooden floor. Sakura got the hint and took her shoes of before stepping onto the wooden floor, followed by her wolves. She looked at Sasori, waiting for his instructions.

"We are going to improve your dodging skills. A severely injured shinobi is very vulnerable and will not last long. You are allowed to use chakra but no jutsus. Concentrate on what is happening around you and be where the attack is not."

Sakura tensed when Sasori took out a few scrolls and rolled them open on the floor. He made a few handsigns and was engulfed in a cloud of smoke. When the smoke cleared he was surrounded by a group of creepy looking puppets, floating around while he held his hands out in front of him.

His fingers twitched and one of the puppets came to life, it opened its mouth and shot multiple senbon at her. Sakura crouched down to avoid being hit before jumping, this time with her wolves to avoid another wave of senbon.

The puppets began sending a wide variety of weapons at her and her wolves. Sakura had no idea how long this went on for. She was separated from her wolves, they were all busy avoiding everything that came their way, including direct attacks from puppets and stepping on the weapons that were strewn across the floor.

Still avoiding all the weapons was impossible. She often had to pull out senbon and sometimes even shuriken or kunai. But none of the attacks hit her vital spots. The same could be said for her wolves, although their small bodies gave them an advantage over her.

Sakura picked up a stray kunai to deflect some more senbon while one of her naked feet stepped onto a shuriken. She hissed in pain, using her undamaged foot as leverage she removed the small weapon. Finally realizing why Sasori had made her take of her shoes. She threw the kunai so that it deflected a shuriken that was aimed for Hyouga.

She might not remember her ninja training, but her body had no trouble remembering it. She even found that she would channel her chakra to her eyes at times, but refrained from wasting chakra for her kekkei genkai when her opponents, the puppets, had no aura anyway.

Sakura was aware she had changed a lot over the years she did not remember. She had grown, but also developed her ninja skills. She had not received a lot of ninja training on the mountain and activating her kekkei genkai was something she did not remember happening.

"That's enough for today."

The puppets became motionless in midair before disappearing in poofs of smoke along with all the weapons that were spread across the room. Sakura wanted nothing more then to rush over to her wolves and check them for injuries but decided against it as she felt Sasori's eyes still on her.

"Tomorrow will be the same routine. We will meet on the seventh floor, do not be late."

Then he reached into the pocket of his cloak and threw an object at her which she caught. It was a book, about the use of poisons in and outside battle.

"Read this in your free time, I expect you to have finished it in two weeks time. I will send a medic to your room to tend to you and your wolves' wounds. You should go and get ready for dinner now."

And once again he disappeared into thin air.

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Sakura let out a sigh of relief when she sat down on her bed. Her whole body was sore and tingling, her wolves were exhausted as well. Sakura ended up carrying Bakura, who had been hit by a kunai in his hind leg. While Arashi had been unfortunate enough to have a senbon piercing his ear, that he wanted to have examined by a medic instead of being boldly removed by Sakura.

Carefully Sakura placed Bakura down on her bed and threw the book onto her desk before taking of her shoes. She looked at the shuriken wound on her foot. It was deep and quite painful to walk on. Hyouga sat down next to her, examining her foot as well.

Arashi had jumped onto the desk and seemed to be deep in thought. It would have been comical to see the large senbon through his small ear if she hadn't known what had caused it.

A knock on the door awoke Sakura from her thoughts. "Come in."

A man carrying a first aid kit entered the room. He bowed to her respectively. Sakura was not entirely sure why he would treat her with so much respect. She bowed her head in response.

"Please heal Bakura first." She said, motioning to said wolf while getting of the bed and moving to the couch to give the medic more working space.

"Yes Miss."

Sakura frowned. "Just Sakura will be all right."

The man shook his head while he began examining the wound on Bakura's leg. "All shinobi in this tower have to be treated with respect."

Sakura was really too tired to care about any of this. She waited for the man to finish his work before telling him to treat Arashi and Hyouga before her.

When the medic left she wanted nothing more then to collapse on her bed and sleep. But she willed herself to do otherwise. Surviving another day of Sasori's training with only a food pill to keep her going would be impossible. She had to get some decent food in her stomach.

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After a few days Sakura and her wolves became aware of the routine. They would wake up at sunrise to be attacked by Sasori. The Suna nukenin was so skilled in hiding his presence, even his scent. That he managed to get them of guard every morning. Then he would casually say they had to work on their awareness, leave a pouch with food pills on the table and leave.

They would train non stop for several hours. Usually Sakura and her wolves would either fight Sasori's puppets or dodge their attacks. During the fights Sakura and her wolves had discovered that not only taijutsu, but also ninjutsu was something they were capable of. On instinct, Sakura had used the basic replacement technique as well as a Juujin Bunshin. Plenty of puppets had lost their limbs when the four of them discovered they had already mastered the Yasei Seishou while training with the getsugan.

Sasori had been amused by their astonishment of finding out their abilities. He mentioned that basic ninja training and mastering jutsus was like learning to walk for an infant. Your body remembers it for you.

After training they would return to their room and wait for a medic to patch them up. After a relaxing shower Sakura would get changed into the only thing in her pre-arranged wardrobe that was not completely black, the yukata with red clouds. Together with her wolves she would meet Suzu, Houseki and Kigai in the 'common room' as they called it. The Japanese style room that Sakura had met the three other subordinates of the Akatsuki in. Houseki and Suzu were usually exhausted like her, from their own training. Kigai was allowed to go on missions after spending four years as the subordinate of Konan, the Leader's partner.

Lastly they would go to bed early and wait for another day to start.

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End of chapter 11! Please review.


	12. Great Divide

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto!

For the Reviewers:

**shadow-binder:** The story will give you the answers to your questions. I'm not going to give anything away lol. And I didn't want Sasori to be OOC, so I had to make him look evil. : p

**Uchiha-Aki:** Wow, so many questions... but I'm only going to answer one of them, otherwise I will ruin the surprises for you, and that would be cruel. His will become a GaaxSaku.

**maleija:**I thought there were already so many fanfics where Itachi becomes Sakura's sensei. So I wanted to be original : )

**Hypnotized_Angel:**Wow, you have a really good sense of smell if you can smell the romance already! Lol, it will come, but all in good time, when I will change the main characters to Sakura & Gaara you can expect romance to become a big part of the story.

**Shattered-Sinner: **When I change the main characters to Sakura & Gaara, that's when the romance comes in. For now I need some plot time.

**Stargazing-sweetie: **Yes, this will eventually become a GaaxSaku. Because Gaara is totally awesome.

**silent-massacre:** Thank you : ) I try to keep my stories as original as possible.

**ChaosWithin:** Thanks for the long review! It gave me an idea, I'm going to make a 'who is your favourite wolf Poll'. Once again thanks for the review.

**xxbochixx, Nikooru-sama, kallou, NorthernLights25, renee,**** dancingqueensillystring, Eyes_of_a_Black_Dragon, nessa671, sendo-tenshi, -Lazy_IDP-, rosepuppy, SakuraxEverybody: **Thank you so much for reviewing!!

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**Chapter 12:**** Great Divide**

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The door of the deserted hokage office creaked open. Two cloaked figures soundlessly entered the room, making their way to the hokage's desk. Wordlessly the taller one moved in front of the window to gaze at the village that was largely hidden by the eerie morning mist. The conditions for infiltrating the village couldn't have been better.

The other wordlessly searched the desk, grabbing a folder with the name Ookamiza Sakura on it. With a few handsigns he removed the seal that was meant to hide the folder's content from the wrong eyes.

The tall blue skinned man in front of the window snorted. "You'd think they would create a different seal with a renegade like you."

He received no response, which did not come as a surprise. "Anything interesting in there?"

"Yes actually. Apparently her memory was erased by Orochimaru, who was most likely planning to use her in his quest for power. The seal on her forehead is a shamanist seal used to trap a snowspirit inside of her."

Kisame glanced over his shoulder and smirked. "Funny how you always seem to ruin his plans, you forced him to leave the Akatsuki and destroyed his plans of getting a new, stronger body. And now you use one of the fundamentals of his plan for the benefit of Akatsuki."

Blood red sharingan eyes calmly looked at the ex-mist shinobi. "Let's not forget who put Orochimaru in such dire need of a new, stronger body."

Kisame's smirk disappeared. He grunted before speaking again. "Shouldn't we find some information on our other target?"

"No need. Ironically the Kyuubi jinchuuriki is the teammate of Sakura."

"We cannot use her as a way of finding the jinchuuriki, she's not even in this country."

"But her other teammates are."

"And who would they be?"

"The infamous copy ninja, Hatake Kakashi and my little brother, Uchiha Sasuke."

Kisame's smirk returned, this time even wider. "What a small world we live in, funny how coincidence works."

The raven haired male hid the folder underneath his cloak before briskly walking to the door. "I don't believe in coincidence."

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"_Sakura!"_

Swiftly Sakura stepped out of the way of a pair of senbon before they could hit her neck. Sasori seemed annoyed at something and very impatient with her today. Somehow her body was weakening quickly. The same could be said of Hyouga, Arashi and Bakura. Their movements were sloppy and their reaction time was not right.

Their physical condition had already caused them all a few minor injuries. Hyouga had collapsed after a puppet had flung him into a wall. And it looked like Arashi, Bakura and herself wouldn't last much longer.

She bit her lip when she stepped on a kunai, the cold metal slicing through the flesh of her bare foot. She ignored the pain while jumping away from another barrage of weapons flying her way. She made eye contact with her master, Sasori had to be using something to make her this much of a worthless opponent. Sakura knew he had limited genjutsu skills, he didn't need to improve them, genjutsu couldn't harm him. There had to be something else...

'_Poison!'_

Sakura cursed at the realisation. Sasori remained motionless.

"So you have finally figured it out. Every opponent has their strategy Sakura, and you need to figure out that strategy and counter it."

Puppets began to circle her, all shooting strings that would stop her movement or could even suffocate her. She activated the getsugan and directed some of her remaining chakra to her hands. With Yasei Seishou she severed all the strings that were meant to trap her. Now she had enough chakra left to perform two more jutsus at most.

Arashi did not have the strength left to get away and was now trapped in the wires, no longer able to fight.

The hand of a puppet wrapped around Bakura's throat. Who no longer had the speed to dodge the attack. He yelped as the puppet pressed him against the floor and began to weakly struggle against the hold on his neck.

"In the shinobi world the smartest are just as dangerous as the most powerful of ninja. If you stop thinking…"

The puppet's hand transformed into a deadly claw, the bladed tips of its fingers aimed at Bakura.

"… You might lose something very precious to you."

With newfound strength Arashi began struggling against the wire, while barking at Bakura, hoping that his fellow wolf would find the strength to free himself.

Sakura's mind was all but screaming at her to save Bakura. She channelled chakra into her weakened limbs, temporarily neutralising the effects of the poison. Her hand began to glow as she gathered energy for a final attack. Before the puppet could tear through the defenceless young wolf her fist collided with its wooden body, the cluster of energy in her hand exploded, turning the puppet into tiny particles of wood.

Sakura collapsed next to Bakura after performing her strongest Yasei Seishou yet.

Sasori stared at the remains of his puppet apathetically. Then his eyes became thoughtful as he looked at his exhausted pupil.

"But something precious is what people find worth fighting for. So the full extent of one's power surfaces when they are about to lose what is precious to them. Still it is best not to risk getting into those situations."

The puppet master gracefully walked to the door. "A medic will be waiting for you when you return to your room."

As soon as he disappeared Sakura allowed her muscles to relax, knowing that training was finally over. She blinked when she was about to fall asleep, reminding herself that they had to get back to their room and receive medical treatment. Carefully she sat up, overusing her chakra was already showing side effects. She felt lightheaded and the poison made moving painful.

All the puppets in the room were lifeless now Sasori was no longer present. Arashi freed himself of the now loose wires that had cut him when he had struggled to get free. Bakura licked one of the senbon wounds on Sakura's hand, showing that he was grateful that she saved him.

"_We should get back to our room."_Arashi said while he nudged the unconscious Hyouga.

Hyouga did not respond. Sakura forced herself to stand up. She picked up the unconscious wolf and moved to the door.

"Let's go, before some other Akatsuki member finds us here."

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Sakura watched as the heavy rain created ripples on the window. After the medic healed their injuries, Sakura and her wolves had fallen asleep. Only to be awakened by a storm. Coming to the conclusion that they had nothing better to do Sakura had picked up the book about poisons that Sasori had given her, go to the common room and wait for Suzu, Kigai and Houseki to return. She could use any information from the book now Sasori was starting to use poisoned weaponry during training.

"_Someone's coming." _

Hyouga yapped softly while staring at the shoji screen. Arashi merely opened his eyes but did not bother to get up while Bakura got ready to fight. The door slid open to reveal Suzu. The purple haired girl looked at the battle ready wolf pup with a smile.

"I knew you were in this room long before you knew that I was on my way here."

Bakura relaxed a little. _"How does she know?"_

Sakura had not intended to ask the others about their abilities, but her curiosity just got the better out of her.

"How can you know that?"

Suzu lifted a few purple locks, revealing that she had a line of black dots on her outer ear. From a distance it looked like she had more piercings in her ear then Leader.

"My ability to hear is exceptionally strong. It is the kekkei genkai passed down in my clan, but it skipped so many generations that people thought it had become extinct. It is passed down only to the girls."

Sakura looked at the slashed Sound forehead protector around her neck. It suddenly seemed to suit her really well.

"For hearing to be that accurate is almost difficult to believe…"

Sakura waited for a reaction, she wanted to see just how strong this kekkei genkai was. Slowly Suzu lifted her arm, the sleeve of her Akatsuki yukata revealing her small hand holding a senbon. Sakura tensed immediately, but Suzu threw the sharp weapon in the direction of a wall to her left, her misty purple eyes never leaving Sakura's emerald ones.

Still not entirely relaxed Sakura tilted her head to look at the wall to see a small black spider pinned by the tip of the senbon.

"You'd be very surprised at how accurate my hearing really is Sakura-san."

The black dots on Suzu's ear faded away, deactivating the kekkei genkai and leaving unblemished pale skin. Sakura watched as she poured herself a cup of tea and sat down. Realization downed upon her that this girl, one year her junior, was in fact a more skilled shinobi then her.

'_I should start carrying hidden weapons, just in case…' _

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Sakura silently followed Sasori to the usual training area. The puppet master had not launched a surprise attack at her this morning, something Sakura was thankful for as her muscles had still not fully recovered from the poison.

When they entered the traditional dojo like room the puppets from yesterday were gone. Sakura looked at her master expectantly when he handed her a scroll.

"This jutsu-scroll contains instructions of a jutsu developed by the Ookamiza clan. A jutsu based on Yasei Seishou, so only members of your clan can master it."

Sakura stared at the scroll in disbelief before opening it. Just like Sasori had said the scroll was written by an Ookamiza, the clan always put an ink pawprint on its scrolls as a sort of signature. Occasional diagrams were drawn on the scroll and the writing was messy, sometimes even barely readable. Sakura could very well remember that everyone in her clan had messy writing, including herself.

"Sasori-sama, how did this scroll end up in the Rain country?"

"A shinobi who previously worked for Akatsuki brought a wide variety of jutsu scrolls to this headquarters. When he left he did not take them with him."

Sakura decided to be bold and asked the question that was on her mind from the moment she saw the scroll. "Could I meet this shinobi, Sasori-sama?"

"No." Sasori answered calmly.

Sakura had expected no as an answer, still it disappointed her. Who knows what kind of information this person had on her clan? She would have to be content with this scroll for now.

Sasori's stern voice interrupted her train of thought. "Summon your wolves. All of you need to improve your ninjutsu."

"Hai, Sasori-sama."

Sakura said, fighting the urge to ask if there were any other scrolls from her clan. Before she could say anything else Sasori disappeared in a poof of smoke.

It was probably a good thing that he was gone. Asking him about anything else couldn't have been a good idea. Any information on previous members of the organisation would most likely concern only the higher ranking members of Akatsuki.

Sakura sighed deeply. She had to make sure training was her first priority for now if she wanted to reach anything. The most important thing right now would be to become strong enough to be entrusted with carrying out missions for the organisation. And the amount of training that she would need for that was going to take years.

Sakura bit her thumb, her sharp canine teeth digging deep in her sensitive flesh as she clenched her jaw in frustration. She painted a line of blood on the pawprint seals on her arm. After performing the required handseals she pressed her palm to the ground, three poofs of smoke later her wolves appeared.

Hyouga, being the most observant of the three immediately noticed something was on her mind. He tilted his head to the side, ears twitching lightly and a questioning look in his eyes. Arashi and Bakura however only paid attention to the scroll in her hands.

"_It smells like wolf!"_

Arashi yapped enthusiastically. Bakura barked in agreement.

"_Is it written by our clan?" _

Sakura nodded. "It's a jutsu scroll that Sasori-sama gave me. I'm sure all of you have seen Katsurou or mother use it before."

Arashi's eyes lit up with enthusiasm. He wagged his tail and moved around impatiently.

"_So let's read it and start practicing!"_

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"Oi Ero-sennin!" A tall white haired man turned around to glare at the blond knucklehead who was accompanying him on his journey.

"Don't call me that!"

Said blond, noticed he had the man's attention and stared at him with a serious expression, one that he rarely had.

"Why were those guys after the Kyuubi?"

Jiraiya's frustration washed away from his expression, changing into an even more serious expression then the one Naruto had.

"They're after the Kyuubi's power. And it is of utmost importance that they don't get it, which is why you have to stay out of their reach. Anything else you want to know."

Naruto's eyes saddened, the previous events clear in his mind. "Why would anyone hurt their brother like that?"

Jiraiya sighed and looked at the ground. "I don't know."

After a few minutes of silence the toad sannin looked up again. "But right now we should be focusing on finding Tsunade."

"Huh why?"

"Because she will get Sasuke back on his feet again."

Naruto nodded with his determined foxy grin back in place.

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Sakura sighed. Staring outside the window where the rain never seemed to stop. It had been almost two weeks since she started on the new jutsu. A few days ago she and her wolves had finally mastered it, on their own, as Sasori had left for a mission. For some unexplainable reason she felt down the last few days, like something bad was about to happen or already happened.

She leaned her forehead against the cool glass, silently thankful that Houseki had just left the room. The pink eyed kunoichi had been determined to find out what had influenced Sakura's mood but after what felt like a decade to Sakura the girl finally gave up.

The cool glass dulled the headache she had, making her sigh in relief. An affectionate lick on her hand made her look down at Arashi, who stared at her with the most adorable puppy eyes any canine could possibly have. Clearly he wanted her undivided attention.

"What is it?" Sakura asked softly.

The wolf pup tilted his head. _"You have been acting so different lately, like you're really sad. Why?"_

Sakura sighed. "I don't know, I just am."

The cuteness abruptly left his eyes, replaced by a perplexed look. _"That's it?"_

"...Yes"

Arashi was clearly determined to find out what was wrong. As he forced the cuteness back into his eyes, Sakura prepared herself for a second interrogation. _"Do you... miss Sasori-sama?"_

Sakura looked at the young wolf suspiciously. "What are you implying?"

"_Do you__... Love him?"_

Sakura gaped at Arashi, whose eyes were still shining with the innocence of the naive puppy that he was.

"WHAT!!?"

Suzu looked up from the book she was reading. "Huh what?"

Sakura ignored the other girl's confusion and stared down at her wolf incredulously. Bakura walked up to them and looked at Arashi.

"_Wow__. That has to be the dumbest thing you ever said."_

Hyouga wisely kept his distance and watched the members of his pack. Suzu looked from Sakura to her wolves and them back to Sakura.

"Sakura-san, are you alright?"

Sakura looked at the purple haired girl, a disturbed look still on her face. "Yeah, I just need to have a private conversation with my wolves. I will see you later."

She swiftly got up and marched out of the room, with her wolves hastily following her. She ascended the stairs in powerful strides, her mind occupied with the hard task of trying to find anything that would explain Arashi's ridiculous idea of her being in love with her master.

Somehow her body had navigated itself to the seventh floor. She entered the room next to the usual training area, which she knew was a room that was sealed in a way that no one could eavesdrop on its occupants once the door was closed. She absolutely did not need Suzu's kekkei genkai to hear what Arashi's suspicions were. As soon as her three furry companions entered the room she slammed the door closed.

"How in the world did you come up with that idea?!"

Arashi's ears dropped while he whined. _"I don't know, why else could you be sad?"_

"I told you, I don't know. Maybe it's a hormonal thing!"

Arashi's eyes widened, a large variety of emotions filling his amber eyes and made his thoughts unreadable. _"No, Sakura, please! You can't mate with Sasori-sama, he's not even human! And besides you're too young to mate!"_

"What!? No! I didn't mean hormonal in that way!"

Hyouga and Bakura merely watched the spectacle unfold itself from the sidelines, both of them wondering how this would end. A familiar scent that was approaching the room made clear that this conversation would soon no longer be private. The door opened, alerting Sakura and Arashi that they were no longer alone. Bakura barked, exactly the words that were on Hyouga's mind.

"_Speak of the devil." _

Akasuna no Sasori calmly entered the room. Taking in the situation in front of him, he looked at Sakura for an explanation. "What are you doing here?"

Heat rose to Sakura's cheeks, making her fully aware that she was developing a bright shade of red. She bowed, more in embarrassment then politeness. Of all times he had to return from his mission _now_.

"Talking."

Sasori remained quiet for a moment, but decided not to ask any further questions. "I assume you have mastered the jutsu?"

"Yes, Sasori-sama, we did."

He nodded. "Good. We will resume training tomorrow morning. I advise you to get some rest."

"Yes Sasori-sama."

The puppet master turned around and left the room again. Sakura breathed deeply and then turned her head to look at Arashi, her face was still flushed as she grit her teeth while she spoke.

"I am not in love with him."

Arashi nodded meekly. _"Okay, I believe you."_

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Tsunade sat behind her new hokage desk, looking at her perverted ex-teammate. The white haired sannin had just returned from his information gathering. Which she truly hoped had better results than the previous mission, wherefrom five of Konoha's most valued genin returned wounded and empty handed.

"I hope you focused on gathering information for the mission and not just your book."

Jiraiya's serious facade did not falter. "You know me Tsunade, I concentrate on the mission when it involves something as important as this."

The godaime hokage locked eyes with the toad summoner. "So you did find something."

"Yes." Jiraiya's eyes became distant, remembering his mission. "I encountered Akatsuki."

Tsunade gasped quietly. "Are you injured?"

"No. I was forced to flee. The two of them were too strong to take on at the same time. One of the two was from Iwagakure, the other from Sunagakure. Honestly Tsunade, I fear for all the hidden villages, especially the jinchuuriki as long as the Akatsuki exists. But I found the answer to one of our questions."

Jiraiya took a deep breath, looking out the window. "Sakura, she's with the Akatsuki now."

Tsunade pressed a hand to her forehead. The room went quiet for a few minutes. "Should we tell him?"

Jiraiya turned around, already making his way to the door. "I'll do it. He deserves to know."

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"Oi, Kakashi-sensei."

The copy ninja looked up from his book to his bedridden student. Naruto, even in his mummified state was tied to the hospital bed to prevent him from escaping. The jounin was here to keep him company, and to attempt to feed him something nutritious instead of ramen.

"Yes?"

"I want to know if... if Sasuke knew about Sakura's family, what Orochimaru did to them."

Kakashi closed his book, he no longer felt like reading. Naruto had just mentioned the concept that had been haunting his mind as well. The copy ninja took a deep breath.

"Yes, he knew."

Tension filled the room, almost making it hard to breathe. It was clear that, for once, Naruto was not going to break the silence.

"I told him the night he ran away. I knew he was thinking about seeking out Orochimaru. So I went to talk to him, I even had to tie him to a tree to get him to listen. But the next day he was gone anyway."

Naruto stared at the ceiling, pain radiating from him. "When he said he would do anything to get his revenge... I..." Naruto did not manage to finish his sentence. He was struggling to comprehend what was going.

He just managed to whisper. "What the fuck have you done Teme..."

Kakashi's single visible eye saddened. Naruto continued to whisper, more to himself then to his sensei.

"We don't even know if she's alive. That Orochimaru bastard could have killed her as well."

"No." Kakashi said quietly, the control over his emotions failing to conceal the pain he felt. "Orochimaru needed her alive."

"You weren't there Kakashi-sensei. When we fought Shukaku, I don't know what the snowspirit did to her..."

"The snowspirit reacted to a shamanist curse that Orochimaru placed upon her to erase her memories of the last six years."

Naruto finally looked at his sensei. "So she doesn't remember Konoha... or us?"

"No."

Naruto sighed. "I have to find her. I need to know if Sakura-chan is alright."

A new voice spoke up. Cheerily as usual Jiraiya entered the room. "You no longer need to worry about that. Sakura is alive."

Naruto tried to sit up, despite the ropes that tied him down. "Ero-sennin, are you sure!"

The older man nodded confidently.

Kakashi smiled under his mask. "That's good to hear."

"Ero-sennin, Ero-sennin, where is she?"

Jiraiya turned serious. "That is where the good news ends. She is with the Akatsuki."

The room was quiet for a moment. Both the older males looked at Naruto, who suddenly started smiling.

"Are you kidding! That's good news. Now I can find Sakura-chan and get rid of those bastards at the same time. And then I can go after Sasuke-teme and Orochimaru, or the other way around."

Kakashi smiled at the blond's enthusiasm. While Jiraiya shook his head.

"You are one incredible fool. If that is going to be your goal then you better be ready for training tomorrow."

Naruto's eyes shone with newfound determination. "I'll be there pervy sage!"

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End of chapter 12!

Please review : )


	13. Mission

**I have started a poll for this story: Who's your favourite wolf?  
Votes are appreciated! : )**

**Disclaimer:** Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto, not me : (. But the Ookamiza clan, getsugan, and OCs are mine : )

For the Reviewers:

**kallou:** Yep, this is after they tried to save Sasuke.

**VALLED:** Thanks for your review : ), here is the next chapter.

**akatsuki no hanako:** I'm sorry, but I don't really want any other stories using my imaginary kekkei genkai. It took me a lot of thinking to create it.

**-carsly-:** Why the black streaks? Because I just couldn't bear the thought of bubblegum pink hair and turquoise eyes combined, it just didn't work for me. And I'm sorry to disappoint you but, this is going to be a GaaxSaku.

**Luka1Sakura:** Lol, you don't need to 'burst my bubble'. I've mentioned a few chapters ago that this story is going to be a GaaxSaku eventually. It was just Arashi implying silly stuff. Sakura never actually said that it was true, because in my story that pairing will never happen. ; )

**DefinePatience:** Thank you for your review! I hope you will continue to like my story.

**Nkooru-sama, shadow-binder, metalhead1218, NorthernLights25, -Lazy IDP-, blondebaka-chan, CYUNME, yuchi1994:** Thanks to all of you for reviewing!!

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**Chapter 13: Mission **

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"Sasori-sama, where are we going?"

The ex-Suna shinobi looked at her over his shoulder. The way he whipped his head around to look at her would make any human cringe, the neck was not meant to move that way. Sakura had even expected the sickening sound of a neck breaking, but she heard no such thing.

"We have a meeting."

Without any further words the puppet master turned around and continued his fast pace.

The last few days had been filled with tough training sessions, in which Sasori did not hold back. As usual it had been her and her wolves against a small puppet army that was equipped with poisoned weapons, and to add a little change in the routine Sasori made her fight the puppets in taijutsu style... while dodging poisoned kunai and what not. How Arashi thought she had feelings for a man who made her fight for her life every single day was beyond her.

She did respect him as a shinobi, and as her master and teacher. Arashi had commented on the fact that she was acting more like herself again, but honestly the training just distracted her from her emotions. She was not entirely sure of what was going on with her, but time to figure that out was something she didn't have.

Sasori had sensed her lack of attention and spoke without looking at her. "Stay alert."

"Hai."

They entered a room that was designed as a conference room. The round table in the middle of the room was surrounded by ten chairs, eight of which were occupied by the very top members of the organisation. Sakura recognized Leader at the head of the table, who nodded politely to acknowledge their presence. On his left were Kisame and Itachi, who completely ignored them. The other members Sakura did not recognize.

She could see Houseki stand behind a man whose face was hidden in a large Venus fly trap. Kigai stood behind the blue haired woman who sat on the right of Leader. Last she noted Suzu standing behind a tall man whose scent identified him as Kakuzu, for a moment Sakura locked eyes with the glaring man. She tensed just in case he would randomly throw a kunai at her again. After a few seconds he broke the eye contact, and she relaxed.

Sasori sat down next to a man with long blond hair, who quickly glanced at her with a single blue eye. Sakura stayed behind Sasori, she eyed the last empty chair for a second and then, like everyone else looked at Leader expectantly.

"A rogue ninja from Sunagakure has taken information that could be of great use to us when he made his escape from his home village. We have reason to believe that he is not powerful in combat, but a master in covering his tracks and hiding his presence. In order to find him we need an expert tracker."

A silver haired man sitting next to Kakuzu made an annoyed sound in the back of his throat. "Seriously, that's why you called us here? Just send Zetsu."

Leader's eyes burned with annoyance. "The reason that I called you here is because Zetsu failed to find him."

The blue haired woman next to Leader spoke up. "Kigai should be able to track this shinobi's chakra."

Leader shook his head. "No. The bingo book has shown that not even the best chakra trackers have been able to pick up the faintest sign of his chakra."

Kisame grunted. "Then that leaves us with a few options. Deidara could look for him, Suzu could track him, or Sakura."

Leader closed his eyes for a moment. "This ninja knows every single invisibility jutsu there is. I highly doubt Deidara would spot him."

Everyone at the table remained still. Sakura was becoming more then a little confused. They couldn't seriously be considering sending her out on a mission, right?

Suddenly she was aware that the pair of ringed eyes was watching her. "I've made my decision." Leader spoke calmly.

"Deidara will look for this shinobi with Sakura's assistance. There is no possible way to hide the life force that the getsugan can clearly see."

"Sakura is not ready for missions." Sasori spoke in an icy tone.

Like Kigai had said, the Akatsuki would not give her much freedom. Sakura could already see her chance to see the sun again disappear. However Leader's reply was spoken in a voice that was even more intimidating.

"I will not waste time in catching this nuke-nin. I decide who goes on which mission for the benefit of the organisation."

The chakra of both nin flared up, Sakura could feel goose bumps appear on her skin from the sheer violence of both energies. Only after several minutes the energy weakened, and Sasori nodded before disappearing in a poof of smoke, leaving Sakura on her own in a situation that left her with no clue of what to do.

The blond man, who was now sitting next to an empty chair stood up.

"Come on, kid. We have to leave in a few hours, yeah."

'_So that is Deidara...'_

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"Naruto!"

Naruto balled his fists in agitation. After all the effort it took to escape from the hospital... and now someone was going to stop him anyway. He turned around to face the next obstacle in his path... Kiba.

"How'd you find me?"

"Who else smells like a walking ramen shop?"

Akamaru barked in agreement.

Naruto glared at his fellow genin.

"You are not going to stop me. I will get Sasuke-teme and Sakura-chan back."

"Tch. There's no point in trying to stop you I know that by now. I'm going with you."

Naruto looked at the Inuzuka boy sceptically. "Why would you?"

Kiba looked at him seriously. "Sakura is a friend of mine to. Honestly Sasuke doesn't mean much to me... but my mission involving him is still not completed. Besides, with your tracking skills there'd be no hope of those two returning home, ever. You can't do this alone."

Naruto relaxed, a small grin appearing on his face. "Fine then, mutt."

Kiba ignored the new nickname, which pointed out that something was wrong. The boy always made sure he had the last word.

"Ino."

A purple clad figure dropped down from a tree. Just like Kiba and Naruto she had a backpack with her. Nervously she looked down at her feet.

"When the nurses told me you had escaped from the hospital, Naruto... I figured out that you were going to find them."

Naruto did something he rarely did. He rolled his eyes at the person addressing him. "If you're in this for Sasuke then you can forget it."

Ino shook her head. "No. I need to know if Sakura's alright. I understand if you're angry at me, I deserve it."

Naruto nodded. "Damn right I'm angry at you. Give me one good reason to let you go with us."

Ino's temper started showing. "Because I need to tell Sakura that I'm sorry! And if you refuse to take me with you I will use my jutsu and _make_ you!"

Naruto shuddered. The last person he would want to manipulate him was a girl like Ino, who would do _anything_ to get what she wanted. And he never enjoyed her company. She was probably the most confusing girl he ever met, besides Hinata of course...

"Well isn't this convenient!"

In a poof of smoke the infamous toad sannin appeared with a wide smile on his face.

"Ero-sennin! You said you were going on a mission this morning!"

Naruto stared at the white haired man in horror. Yes in the end someone was going to stop him from saving his teammates.

"Yes, that's what I said... But you didn't think that I'd let you run away like this right?"

"I thought you'd be too busy with that mission or peeking at girls in the hot springs."

In a flash Jiraiya was standing right in front of Naruto. "Don't make me look bad in front of your friends, you brat."

After his irritated whispering he straightened himself up and cleared his throat. "Seeing as a four-man squad is required for an information gathering mission like this, and we've all packed our bags I believe we're good to go."

Ino and Kiba looked at the legendary shinobi with admiration. Naruto grinned widely.

"You're awesome Ero-sennin!"

"Don't call me that!"

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"Hurry up, un. We need to be out of the Rain country by nightfall."

Sakura walked up to Deidara, who was waiting at the large wooden doors that she had entered the tower through. She was just about ready to snap at Deidara, being constantly surrounded by bad-tempered Akatsuki members had its effects on you. But the past hour hadn't exactly been serene for her.

A few servants had hurriedly found her a suitably ninja attire, which consisted of black kunoichi shorts, a long dark blue shirt and a white sash that was tied around her waist. And to prove that she was with Akatsuki she wore a black haori with red clouds, the same one that she had seen Kigai wear before. She was now well equipped with a filled shuriken holster and kunai pouch.

Someone else was waiting at the door as well, someone she did not expect to see. Leader stood next to Deidara, waiting for her.

"Take this with you."

He held out his hand in front of Sakura, revealing something that any Ookamiza would be familiar with; a wolf whistle.

Sakura lifted an eyebrow. Her scent was still on it along with another scent that was very similar to that of a dog.

"Itachi took it from you when you were found in the forest. You are allowed to use it on your mission."

'_I don't remember anyone of the clan giving this to me...'_

Sakura wanted to thank him for returning the wolf whistle to her. But when she looked up Leader had disappeared. She placed the item around her neck and looked up at Deidara, waiting for him to give her instructions.

The blond haired nin opened the doors and stepped outside. Sakura followed him, inhaling the air from the world outside the tower, but cringing at the smell of the city that was Amegakure. There was no enjoyable scent of trees or animals, but the unfamiliar scent of the bustling city life filled her nose. The usual heavy rainfall was reduced to drizzle, allowing the scents of countless restaurants, various perfumes, and alcohol to make her nauseous.

Deidara chuckled. "Welcome to urbanisation."

"Thank you." Sakura replied in a sour tone, well aware of her lack of respect. But Deidara's presence didn't demand for respect, unlike Sasori's or Leader's presence. Just like she had expected Deidara ignored her rude reply.

He reached into his pocket and took out a small bird sculpture.

"I want to finish this mission as soon as possible." He dropped the small bird and formed a handsign. In a poof of smoke the small bird statue had become about twice the size of a horse. Deidara jumped on top of it and looked at her with his single blue eye. "So I suggest you hop on and we leave immediately, yeah."

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"... Where the hell are we Ero-sennin?"

The three genin stared at the destroyed landscape in awe. Only shinobi of the highest calibre could have caused this. The rocky ground was reduced to debris, trees were charred to the point where they would easily collapse and weapons were lodged everywhere. Jiraiya stared at the remnants of the battle pensively.

"On my last mission I encountered the Akatsuki... right here."

Kiba grinned, his eyes shimmering knowingly. "Then I guess that it's my job to find their scent right?"

Jiraiya nodded. "If they left any traces behind then I want you to find them."

Kiba nodded. "Let's go Akamaru!" The young dog barked in response and followed his owner into the clearing.

Ino's face became pale. "We're going after the Akatsuki? ...Why?"

Naruto looked up at her. "So you don't know yet?"

"Know what?"

Naruto looked back at the battlefield. "The Akatsuki got Sakura-chan." He ran into the clearing and made some clones to join Kiba and Akamaru in their search for any traces of the missing nins who had fought the toad sannin.

Ino stayed behind. All colour now drained from her face. "No..."

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Soon after the large bird took flight Sakura found out that it was actually made out of clay. How did she find out? She began digging her fingernails into it, trying to grip it as well as she could. Of one thing she was sure now, she absolutely hated flying. All feeling of security had left her as soon as they left the ground.

But they were finally going to land now. Deidara landed the clay bird in the middle of the forest and hopped off, with Sakura following him.

"We'll go by foot from here, un. Some Anbu have been following our direction for a while now."

Sakura nodded in understanding and followed Deidara. They silently walked through the forest, and Sakura was immensely grateful to have solid ground underneath her feet again. After walking for about twenty minutes Deidara looked over his shoulder with a wide smile on his face.

"Boom."

A deafening explosion rang through the forest, making Sakura whip around. Many birds fled in a panic and the smell of fire became present. Sakura could only stare as grey smoke began to rise to the sky.

Deidara chuckled. "Anbu problem solved."

Sakura turned around to look at him, but the blond haired nin had continued his fast pace once more. She continued to follow him while thinking about what just happened.

'_There's no way he set up a trap that fast when we left the bird behind."_

After several minutes Deidara stopped and looked at her, a curious glance from what Sakura could tell.

"Why aren't you trying to run away, yeah?"

Sakura looked at him, he was expecting her to take her chances and flee?

"I don't have anywhere to run to Deidara-sama."

"So you'd rather be locked up in a tower for however long the organisation decides?"

Sakura shrugged. "I don't remember my allies or my enemies. Right now I just want my wolves to be safe."

Deidara snorted. "You think that Akatsuki is a safe place?"

Sakura shook her head. "No, but at least it is giving me a chance to survive and become stronger."

Deidara shoved his hands in his pockets and turned around. "If I had been in your position I would've ran away, un."

Sakura didn't say anything so they continued walking until she broke the silence.

"Just who am I meant to find?"

"A guy named Ishi Takahiko. We're heading to the place where he was last seen."

"So how am I meant to find him?"

"Once we find out where he is we will go to that place. You will use your getsugan and your sense of smell combined."

Sakura didn't understand the plan at all. "But I don't know what he smells like, or what emotions he has right now. How would I know who he is?"

Deidara sighed. "Wherever the guy is, he always hides his scent. So you will know who he is when you see an aura but don't smell the person. You can do that right?"

Sakura thought the plan over. Whoever had thought it up had to be a genius, to be able to devise a plan with her abilities without actually having those abilities themselves. All it required was her maximal concentration and the chance of failure would be slim to none.

"Yes, I can do that."

"Good, yeah."

They continued walking, without changing their direction. Sakura wondered from time to time why they didn't just use their chakra for speed. The idea of running was so very attractive now that she was surrounded by forest once again.

"_Are you here to hunt, stranger?"_

Sakura stopped moving, listening to the call of the alpha wolf whose territory she had just entered. He had picked up her scent and thought she was a wolf. Not surprisingly he wanted to know who she was and why she was here, his duty was to protect his pack from anything. Deidara had stopped moving and was looking at her intently.

"Well? What's he saying, yeah?"

"He wants to know why I'm here. We've just entered his territory."

Deidara rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Tell him whatever he needs to know, yeah."

Sakura sighed, she did not speak wolf. But luckily she had the wolf whistle, that way she did not need to summon her wolves to reply for her. She brought the whistle to her mouth.

"_I am headed for human territory, I mean you no harm." _

That should be enough to reassure him. As long as she didn't hunt he probably wouldn't mind her presence on his hunting grounds. The wild wolves tended to avoid conflict as much as they could.

She did not receive a response from the alpha wolf, meaning that he no longer considered her to be a possible intruder or a threat to his pack. Sakura had to hurry to catch up to Deidara, who was once again walking at a fast pace.

By nightfall they had arrived in a small village surrounded by grasslands. By the looks of it the village did not have a lot of residents.

"There is a possibility that our target is in this village. Activate your getsugan and start looking, yeah."

Sakura did as she was ordered. Her eyes bled turquoise. With her enhanced vision Sakura looked at the various auras surrounding the people walking down the street as well as taking in their scent, doing this while following Deidara quickly became a frustrating task. Many people shot her and Deidara fearful looks, not used to shinobi passing through their village.

Sakura was examining a group of teenagers around her age when Deidara stopped walking, causing her to bump into him. He glimpsed at her over his shoulder.

"Find anything, yeah?"

Sakura tried to keep a straight face even with her embarrassment of walking into a powerful shinobi like him. There was no doubt in her mind that many Akatsuki members would have been annoyed with such a un-shinobi-like display.

"No, all the people I have seen so far were just civilians."

"That doesn't surprise me."

He entered the building that he was standing in front of, a bar. Sakura followed him hesitantly, she immediately smelled the strong smell of alcohol. She followed Deidara who strode to a table where a wealthy looking man was chatting with a younger man, who was the first shinobi in the village that Sakura had spotted.

The shinobi shook hands with the man and made his way to the exit of the bar. He glanced at Deidara warily and fastened his pace. Deidara took his place in front of the wealthy looking man. Sakura sat down next to him, and began to investigate all the people in the bar.

"Aah, Deidara-san. Are you looking for work?"

"No thanks, un. I got my hands full as it is. I was wondering if you happen to have met someone by the name of Ishi Takahiko."

"The one that appeared in the latest copy of the bingo book?"

"Yeah."

"No, I have not. However, I have heard he was here not too long ago, he was headed to the Land of Rice."

"Thanks Tansei-sama, yeah."

Deidara stood up and was ready to leave once again, Sakura deactivated her kekkei genkai. There was no need for wasting her chakra when their target wasn't even in the village anymore. She wanted to get up as well but the man's voice stopped her.

"Please, stay and have something to drink before you continue your mission. I'll pay. I also have some questions to ask you."

Deidara relaxed. "Alright then."

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"Oi, Kiba! Did you find anything?!"

Kiba looked up at one of the blond shinobi, unsure if it was the real thing or just another shadow clone.

"No! But I might if you'd just let me concentrate and not asked me the same question every few seconds!"

"That's enough you two!" Jiraiya said loudly.

They had been inspecting the clearing for more than an hour already and still they had not managed to find anything that could assist them in tracking the Akatsuki.

Ino looked at the two boys and tried to reason with them. "They probably don't want to be found. We can't waste our time looking for something that is not here."

Naruto gritted his teeth. "No, there has to be something here!"

"Naruto!" The orange clad ninja stilled and listened to the stern voice of the toad sannin. "She's right. We are just going to have to follow the other lead that I have."

Naruto stared at the man for a moment. "You mean you already had a lead that could lead us to Sasuke-teme or Sakura-chan?"

"Yep."

"Then why didn't you say so!"

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Sakura woke up to the first rays of sunlight, she stretched contently. Last night did not go according to plan, but she wouldn't have had it any other way. Tansei-sama had been providing the Akatsuki with missions for years, he employed many missing-nin and had even worked with the Ookamiza clan a few times. He had recognized her kekkei genkai and offered her a mission, but Deidara had said that she was not ready to go on solo missions.

When Tansei had to leave he had offered them both a room in the village's inn. Deidara, even with the mission on his mind, did not deny the generous offer. Now she was watching the beautiful pink and golden hues of the sky from her comfortable bed.

"_When are we leaving?" _

Bakura looked at her from his outstretched position on the soft blankets, lazily wagging his tail in contentment. Sakura sighed and threw the blankets off of her.

"Soon."

Arashi and Hyouga were not in the room with them, but the open window signalled that they had gone for a walk. Sakura blew on the wolf whistle to tell them to return and began to gather her stuff while she and Bakura waited.

It didn't take long before the light tapping of paws on the wooden floor announced the return of the rest of their small pack. Arashi, yapped happily.

"_Morning! "_

Hyouga dropped a dead rat on the floor. Bakura jumped up immediately, his ears twitching while he looked at the rat and then at Hyouga. Hyouga merely sat down and looked at the other wolf.

"_It's for you." _

Bakura wagged his tail in thanks and dug his teeth into the dead rodent. Sakura merely took a food pill and drank a bottle of water that was provided by the inn.

Someone knocked on the door. Sakura sniffed the air for any enemy ninja but only found Deidara's scent and opened the door. The blond Akatsuki member walked in and looked at Bakura's breakfast distastefully but did not comment on it.

"We are leaving for the Rice Country as soon as he's finished eating, yeah."

"Deidara-sama, how are we going to find this missing nin if we have no idea where in the Rice Country he actually is?" The question had been bothering Sakura since last night, the mission could take forever if they had to search an entire country.

Deidara smirked. "We do know in what area of the Rice Country he is, yeah."

Sakura blinked in confusion. "How?"

"The only reason for a guy like him to go to the Country of Rice is because he wants to join Orochimaru."

Time seemed to stand still for Sakura when the meaning of Deidara's words became clear to her.

'_Orochimaru is in the Rice Country...'_

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End of Chapter 13. Please review.


	14. The Hunt

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto.

For the reviewers:

**Twisted Musalih:** Thank you so much for reviewing! I'll try to update more often, had a bad case of writers block lately haha.

**-carsly-:** I'll see if I can get shika into the story sometime, it has to work with the plot of course.

**fantasywolfprincesskira:** I'm sure Sakura will get her memory back someday lol. Thanks for reviewing!

**Jashin's Accomplice:** Haha, we'll see what happens when they get to the hideout.

**maleija:** Thank you for reviewing. I'm afraid Sakura does not get her memory back... yet.

**Darksakudragon:** Ooh yes, there will be fighting...

**Cookies-GyZmo:** Haha, thank you for reviewing!

**Sandi Inspiration:** Thank you for reviewing. About the spelling, I study Japanese at the moment and I have been taught to write my words the way I do. I am honoured to have a non-Naruto fan reading my story though haha.

**Linda Chicana**: Thank you so much for reviewing, I'm happy to hear you like my story so much.

**yuchi1994, Nikooru-sama, VALLED, MawrisaLovesSasuSaku, kallou, snow246, Neko4:** Thank you for reviewing!

* * *

**Chapter 14: The Hunt**

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Jiraiya inspected the ground before them. "Looks like an explosives user has been here."

The information gathering team of Konoha stood at the edge of a large crater, the flourishing forest that had once been there had been pulverised by the explosion. Naruto looked at the toad sannin.

"Could it have been them?"

Jiraiya sighed. "One of the Akatsuki that I fought could have been the cause of this, but there are countless explosives users out there. It is impossible to tell if it was him."

After briefly inspecting the area they continued on their way to a possible hideout of Orochimaru, a chance to find Sasuke.

"Hey, I think I've found Sakura's scent."

The group turned around to look at the Inuzuka boy. Naruto's eyes filled with hope and excitement.

"Really?"

Ino looked at him doubtfully. "You think or you know you've found her scent?"

Kiba sniffed the air frantically. "It's confusing, I didn't smell it before. She couldn't have just fallen out of the sky right?"

Akamaru barked. Kiba stopped sniffing and looked at his dog.

"Really? I guess that would make sense."

Naruto growled in frustration. "What did he say?"

Kiba shot him an annoyed look. "Calm down. There's a pack of wolves in the area, I could have confused one of their scents with Sakura's. Her scent is very similar to that of a wolf."

Ino raised an eyebrow at him. "You never had any trouble recognizing anyone else's scent before."

Kiba glared at her, clearly taking her words as an insult. "My sense of smell is as strong as ever. But there's a reason that the Ookamiza clan could stay hidden for so long. No ninken could find them because they smell like wolves."

Naruto sighed. "Why did they need to hide anyway?"

Jiraiya answered for Kiba. "They had a lot of enemies, many people wanted them dead."

Naruto decided to continue asking annoying questions. "Why?"

"I don't know. But we should continue on our way to our destination."

Naruto nodded. "Rice Country here we come!"

* * *

Sakura rubbed her eyes, after searching four villages she was getting tired and her eyes were irritated. Her wolves had assisted her in her search for someone with an aura but without a scent. Their eyes were just as irritated as hers.

Deidara was getting frustrated with their lack of progress. Still he allowed them to take a break. Gratefully Sakura drank from the water bottle while Hyouga, Bakura and Arashi drank from the pond they were sitting next to. This village had a small park with a playground where young children were playing under the watchful eyes of their parents.

A toddler shyly walked up to them, mumbling something that sounded like 'doggy'. Bakura tilted his head and his left ear twitched.

"_She thinks we're dogs?" _

Hyouga yawned while turning his head away from Bakura, showing just how uninteresting he found his surroundings.

The toddler carefully came closer and put a hand on Hyouga's head. Sakura closely watched the interaction between Hyouga and the little girl. Hyouga tensed but allowed the child to pet him. Of course during his ninken training he was trained not to let strangers pet him, but children are harmless. The toddler moved her small hand to Hyouga's snout, causing him to sneeze. The young girl blinked in surprise but then laughed in childish amusement.

Sakura and her wolves were well aware of the woman approaching them, without a doubt the child's mother. The girl squealed and reached out to Hyouga when her mother picked her up. Sakura looked into the woman's dark brown eyes, understanding her concerns very well. The child's mother had seen her shinobi attire, with the Akatsuki haori, and her three ninken. Any good mother should keep their child away from a shinobi, even more so when they wore a slashed hitai ate, like Sakura did.

The woman eyed her fearfully. Sakura sighed.

"It's okay."

The woman nodded and hastily walked off.

Sakura sat back and watched the children play. They were all still so innocent. Not even capable of creating evil... Sakura almost dropped her water bottle at the realisation. A playground full of young children, it would be the perfect place for a shinobi to hide. And it was the only place in the entire village that they hadn't checked.

Sakura placed the water bottle on the dirt, and whispered to her wolves.

"Check the playground. He might be here."

Without even seeing if her wolves were actually doing that she activated her getsugan. The frustrating job of matching scents with auras in a place as busy as a playground was driving her insane. Sakura bit her lower lip in concentration while she checked every child's aura and then sniffed the air for their scent, it was almost impossible. All the happy, orange filled auras of the children were disturbed by one aura with lilac.

'_Why would a child be so worried, shouldn't he just be having fun?'_

Suddenly she realised that said aura belonged to a young boy, the only child that wasn't playing but just standing there, staring right at her with a face that was all too serious for a boy his age. The she noticed that the boy did not have a scent.

* * *

Pein stared at the puppet master standing in front of him. His calm features disturbed by the fury in his eyes. Since Deidara had left on his next mission he left Sasori the task of informing their Leader of what happened during their mission, alone. Pein was livid, as expected.

"So Konoha knows that Sakura is here?"

Sasori didn't answer the rhetorical question. It wasn't even his fault that they knew. His idiot of a partner just couldn't keep his mouth shut.

Konan, Leader's blue haired partner and also the only one to call him by his name, voiced her thoughts.

"It would be unlikely for Konoha to try and retrieve her now, considering they are still suffering the aftermath of the battle with Suna and Otogakure."

Leader sighed. "Yes, but they will come sooner or later. You never know with those Konoha shinobi. Besides, they have lost the last users of two different kinds of doujutsu. Getting them back would be part of their priorities."

Pein nodded at Sasori, who disappeared in a poof of smoke. He leaned back into his chair and sighed.

"I'm starting to believe that teaming up Sasori and Deidara was a bigger mistake then teaming up Sasori and Orochimaru."

Konan smiled a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

"I had warned you not to team up Sasori and Orochimaru. But I believe Sasori and Deidara can learn to work together. Deidara looks up to Sasori, he will not listen to anyone but him."

Pein sighed tiredly.

"How do you always know these things?"

She gave him the same empty smile and whispered one word before she disappeared in a flurry of paper.

"Intuition."

* * *

Adrenaline began to flow through Sakura's body.

"We've got him. Arashi look for Deidara-sama."

Sakura stood up performed a few quick handsigns. "Juujin Bunshin!"

Hyouga and Bakura turned into replicas of herself. The three of them began to run towards the playground. One of the parents noticed them. He yelled something and all the other parents began to panic and ran to get their children out of the playground. Sakura smiled. This couldn't be more perfect, with the growing panic there was little chance for their target to escape.

With her getsugan she spotted the boy's aura. His aura was now even more noticeable, it was the only one that did not have one bit of fear in it.

A poof of smoke appeared in the crowd at the playground. The tall figure of a man jumped out of the crowd and threw a few kunai at her, Bakura and Hyouga. Even in midair they easily blocked the kunai with one of their own. The man began to run to the forest. In an attempt to stop him Bakura threw his kunai. The man dodged the attack easily and ran away.

Sakura growled softly. "We can't let him get away!"

She made a handsign and her wolves copied her. "Shikyaku no Jutsu." Sakura felt her nails elongate and flexed her fingers. The new rush of adrenaline allowed her to run even faster, jumping to a tree every now and then. Hyouga and Bakura were right behind her.

The three of them wasted little in catching up to their future opponent. They were soon able to see the man again and threw kunai and shuriken at him, the man simply dodged them.

Sakura frowned. _'We need to corner him.'_ But she couldn't tell her wolves that, if she said it out loud their target would know exactly what to do and in order to use the wolf whistle she would need to slow down, and thus lose track of him. She could wait for Deidara to show up, but when he had left them at the park he hadn't said where he was going or when he would be back. _'Chasing him like this will only exhaust us.'_

'**Be creative Sakura.'**

Sakura wished she could direct her glare at Shiki, but settled for glaring at the fleeing ninja instead. _'Go away. I need to find a way to slow this guy down.'_

'**... Explosive tags perhaps?'**

Then his voice was gone. Sakura blankly stared ahead. _'That could work.'_She reached into her kunai pouch and pulled out a kunai and explosive tag. After she had prepared three kunai she looked at her companions. Bakura's face was blank while Hyouga nodded in understanding. He pulled out a few kunai of his own and began to throw them at the still running ninja. As expected the man dodged them skilfully, along with Sakura's kunai that were actually aimed for the trees. All three of the kunai landed exactly where she wanted them.

Sakura put her hands together in a handsign. "Katsu."

The explosion forced the man to jump backwards, spots of bright green appearing in his aura. He was surprised. Sakura landed in a tree along with her wolves and waited for the dust to settle, while still looking at the aura.

When the dust was mostly gone the man turned around. A pair of pitch black eyes stared at her. The man's features were quite intimidating. His bald head was covered with tattoos and he was quite tall. A slashed hitai ate hung around his neck. The man glared at her and her two wolves.

"Go home child."

Sakura shook her head. "Can't, I'm on a mission." With her clawed fingers she pointed at her Akatsuki haori. "Are you Ishi Takahiko?"

With a straight face the man replied. "No."

A few spots of black appeared in his aura. Secrecy... dishonesty, he was lying. Bakura and Hyouga had seen it too. She nodded at them and they jumped down from the tree. Bakura threw a few shuriken at the man, who dodged to the left. Where Hyouga had been waiting for him, Hyouga aimed for his face with his claws. The man used a quick transportation jutsu and reappeared at a safe distance away from all three of them.

The man sighed. "Annoying as you are, you are also the first to be able to find me. I guess nothing less is to be expected of someone associated with Akatsuki."

Sakura didn't react to his words. He took out a scroll and summoned something from it. Sakura tensed as smoke blurred her vision, through the smoke she could see his aura but not the body that belonged to it. The smoke cleared, Takahiko had not moved from his spot. But he was ready to fight, judging from the giant battle axe he was holding. He grinned at her maliciously.

"Let's see if your claws are anything compared to my axe."

Sakura swallowed, judging from the speed at which he had been running she would not be able to hit this guy without losing any limbs. She could only be sure to stay out of harm's way would be if she would fight with mid- or long-range attacks. Making the situation awfully problematic considering close-range was pretty much all she knew.

"I'm waiting. I'll let you have the first move."

Sakura contemplated on what to do. Hyouga calmly eyed the axe, waiting for sudden movements. Bakura was not so patient.

With a growl he ran at the armed man. Sakura screamed Bakura's name in alarm, hoping her voice would overpower his animalistic aggression. Takahiko slammed his axe into the ground like it was his opponent. Solid ground split into two, causing the ground to shake. Bakura latched onto one side of the crevice and looked up just in time to see the massive axe come down upon him. Sakura's breath hitched in her throat, refusing to let out the scream at the sight of her greatest fear; losing one of her loved ones.

The axe lodged itself into Bakura's back, causing her heart to beat frantically to a point where she could hear it herself.

* * *

"What?"

Jiraiya stared down at a glaring old woman about three heads shorter than him, eyeing her cane just in case she decided to hit him with it. In a strong voice the lady repeated her answer.

"Absolutely not."

Jiraiya smiled uneasily. "Come on, we have travelled a long way. All we're asking for is some food and something to drink."

The woman glared at him through her glasses. "No, shinobi are not welcome here. I do not feel like repeating my reasons why. As the mayor of this town I demand you leave, now."

Naruto jumped out from behind Jiraiya, having decided to use his amazing persuasion skills for the sake of filling his stomach with ramen.

"Come on old hag, I promise you we will not cause any trouble and stay away from the playground. I just want some ramen, please!"

The old woman's mouth was slightly agape. Behind Jiraiya Kiba massaged his temples. "Talk about a choice of words."

The old lady had recovered from the blatant disrespect. "How dare you call me that! Out, never show your face here again!"

Jiraiya walked away from their now ruined chance to get something to eat, and for him to have a look at the local women. He was just considering yelling at his foolish apprentice, who just appeared to lack in a lot more areas then just ninja skills when Ino beat him to it.

The young Yamanaka grabbed the unsuspecting Naruto by his collar. "You've just ruined our lunch and a possible lead to finding Sakura, you moron!"

Naruto winced at Ino's high pitched voice. "B-but Ino, you were trying to lose weight r-right?" You should consider this a good thing!"

Ino's eyes burned with anger. "Are you suggesting that I'm _fat_?"

Jiraiya sighed. "That's enough Ino."

Grudgingly Ino shoved Naruto away from her and walked away angrily. Naruto sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "Must be her time of the m-"

Kiba smacked Naruto across the head. "Now is not the right time to be saying that."

Naruto rubbed his now sore head. "Itai! Geez, what's bothering you?"

Kiba looked over his shoulder. "The scent of four wolves leads into that village. There's a big chance that Sakura, Hyouga, Bakura and Arashi were here. The chance that the local wolf pack would wander into that village is very small."

"Could Sakura-chan still be there?"

Kiba shook his head. "They entered the village at least a day ago, and the mayor said that the shinobi left after attacking the playground."

Naruto folded his arms over his chest. "I don't believe Sakura-chan would attack a playground, let alone a bunch of little kids."

Jiraiya looked ahead thoughtfully. "Sakura had her memory wiped and has been recruited by Akatsuki. There's no telling what she would do." He glanced over his shoulder. "To you or anyone else."

* * *

The force of the axe crushed Bakura's body into the rough rocks he was digging his claws into. The sharp blade disappeared into the flesh of his back, but oddly enough there was no blood.

Bakura's body disappeared in a poof of smoke, replaced by a log. Sakura drew in a small breath of relief when she heard his familiar bark behind her. He had cancelled the Juujin Bunshin.

"_That was close. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to perform my jutsu in time."_

Sakura tried to steady her irregular breathing. "Never scare me like that again."

Bakura lowered his head and whined apologetically. From across the clearing Takahiko laughed.

"Are you for real? A true shinobi would never let their emotions interfere in battle. You're giving the Akatsuki a bad name."

Sakura couldn't have cared less about his mockery. She just had to keep him busy until Deidara arrived. She could see Takahiko's confidence growing in his aura after her display of weakness, which could work in her favour.

Takahiko charged at her, axe ready to strike. For now she would stick to dodging his moves. She jumped to the left when he lunged at her. It took Takahiko a moment to lift his heavy weapon up again. He slammed it into the ground and created a mini-earthquake. Hyouga managed to jump out of range of the tremor but both Sakura and Bakura had trouble to stay standing. Sakura fell down on her knees and heard Bakura bark a warning at her. She looked up to see Takahiko's battle axe come down upon her and rolled out of the way just in time.

After jumping up and out of Takahiko's range she assessed the situation. Sooner or later Takahiko's attack would be successful, and she could not let that happen. Sakura hated to admit it, but Sasori-sama had been right when he said that she wasn't ready for a mission. But in the current situation there was only one thing she could do.

'_Time to use my new jutsu.'_

Takahiko charged at Bakura who swiftly jumped out of the way. He was then forced to turn around and quickly use his axe to shield himself from a kunai thrown by Hyouga. He then charged at Sakura, closing the distance between them with a teleportation jutsu. Sakura gasped in surprise and managed to dodge the axe by crouching down on the ground. Several strands of her long hair were cut off, making Sakura aware that the axe was enhanced with chakra, and that it was meant to cut off her head.

She looked up at his glaring face and lifted her clawed hand.

"Yasei Seishou: Hirameki!"

A flash of light emanated from her hand. With a pained yell Takahiko used one hand to cover his eyes. Sakura took her chance and delivered a swift uppercut, causing the man to stumble backwards and drop his axe. He removed his hand from his eyes and blinked several times before mumbling in a panicked voice.

"I-I'm blind."

He grunted in pain and fell to the ground when Hyouga's roundhouse kick hit him in the back of the head. He crawled up hastily and threw a wave of shuriken in different directions. Hyouga side-stepped the one coming in his direction, the other shuriken didn't even come near Bakura and Sakura.

Sakura smirked when she saw the confidence in his aura disappear. _'This is it. We can finish him off now.'_

'_**What if the Akatsuki needs him alive?'**_

Sakura blinked before growling in frustration. Deidara hadn't said _what_ they needed from him, killing him could make the entire mission a failure. She sighed deeply.

"We can't kill him until we know what we need from him."

She heard Takahiko chuckle at her frustration. She glared at the missing-nin and spoke venomously.

"But that doesn't mean we can't hurt him in any cruel way we like."

For the next several minutes they waited, and Takahiko did not dare to speak a word. After about ten minutes of keeping a close eye on him Sakura noticed he started to blink and look around. His vision was beginning to return to normal.

"_Sakura!"_

She turned around to look at Arashi, who was followed by Deidara. The blond Akastuki member looked at the weakened missing-nin sprawled across the ground disdainfully.

"Hn. A jounin caught and defeated by a genin. I would be doing you a favour if I killed you, you would never live this down, yeah."

Takahiko's aura filled with fear at the sight of Deidara. He jumped up and grabbed his axe. Deidara looked at him with nothing but pure boredom.

"The scroll, hn?"

"You will not have it."

A butterfly appeared in Takahiko's line of vision and landed on the hand holding his axe. Deidara made a one-handed handsign. "Katsu."

Sakura startled when Takahiko's hand disappeared in a small explosion, scattering blood and little bits of flesh. The man yelled in pain and clutched his bleeding, mutilated limb. His axe dropped to the ground, blade digging into the dirt. The smell of slightly burned flesh reached Sakura's nostrils, a smell that she usually enjoyed but absolutely disgusted her at the moment.

Takahiko grinded his teeth and reached into his kunai pouch with his good hand. Before Sakura could even see what he pulled out the area was covered in smoke and she saw his aura disappear into the forest. She got ready to go after him when Deidara grabbed her arm.

"Deidara-sama we have to go after him!"

He looked at her with annoyance clearly written all over his face. "I know, hn. But if we follow him he will lead us to Orochimaru." He smirked maniacally. "And I really want to kill that bastard."

* * *

End of chapter 14. Please review : )

Yasei Seishou: Hirameki- wild energy: flash. A jutsu of the Ookamiza clan used to temporarily blind someone.


	15. Found

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto. But I do own the Ookamiza clan and the getsugan, and any OC's.

My apologies for the lateness of this update, the next chapter is will be up sooner (I've written about half of it).

For The Reviewers:

**Darksakudragon:** Haha, yes very risky indeed. But Deidara is probably the biggest risk taker out of all Naruto characters. In my opinion anyway.

**The Sociopathism of Trees:** I've been developing a lot of ideas for Ookamiza clan jutsus, but I'm going to give what you said some serious consideration.

**Linda Chicana:** Haha, this kind of reviews are always nice. Glad you're so into the story, I apologise for the late update.

**The Lady-Mother of Kitsunes:** Yes, the Ookamiza clan and getsugan are all my imagination. So thank you for your comment. : )

**Em-i-lo:** I love Deidara too : )

**Nikooru-sama, NorthernLights25, maleija, nanamiluchia14, raeanda, Suicidally.'-'.Bored, Cindy Medeiros, Midnightweasel:** Thank you for your reviews!

* * *

**Chapter 15: Found**

* * *

Sakura was angrily fighting her instincts, she could see Takahiko's aura fade into the distance. It was aggravating her that Deidara was letting him run away after all the effort she and her wolves put into finding him.

"Haven't we waited long enough? I don't want him to get away!"

Deidara glared at her. "We can wait a little longer, yeah."

Sakura impatiently stared at the disappearing aura.

"I hate waiting."

She did not see the mild amusement on Deidara's face.

"So does someone else I know, hn."

Deidara patiently waited until the smoke cleared completely before he took off. Hyouga cancelled the Juujin Bunshin, understanding that this cat-and-mouse game could take a while. Sakura deactivated her getsugan, there was no need for it at the moment. Since there was a fresh trail of blood they could follow. Sakura glared at Deidara's back as he ran ahead of them, going after Orochimaru was not even part of the mission. If there was one thing she was not looking forward to it would be a reunion with the man who took everything away from her.

* * *

They ran in silence until they reached what looked like the entrance to a building built into the ground. Deidara shook his head in disappointment at what he saw.

"I thought Orochimaru was a genius. It's like he wants to be found, yeah."

Sakura couldn't agree more. Though the actual hideout was underground the entrance to it couldn't be more obvious. The thing even had snakes engraved into the stone. Everything about it practically screamed Orochimaru.

"Deidara-sama, wouldn't Orochimaru kill Takahiko after he finds out that we followed him here?"

"Probably, yeah. This is why we have to find him first."

Confidently he walked into the underground building. Sakura hesitated for a moment. She shivered at the smell emanating from the place. The smell of the serpent, the smell of death, she didn't like it at all. Worst of all was the idea of Orochimaru being here, after what he did to her family she wanted to stay away from him, to never see his face again.

Sakura felt fur brush against her leg and looked down to see Arashi. Even in this situation he stayed optimistic, she couldn't help but wonder how he did it.

"_It'll be okay." _

Hyouga barked in agreement. _"I don't even think he's here anymore. His scent is already old."_

Sakura nodded without really agreeing, she didn't want to walk on the same ground as Orochimaru, or even breathe the same air as him. Unfortunately she had no choice but to do both. She followed behind Deidara slowly, not letting her guard down for even a second.

The feeling of dread came back tenfold when she saw that the tunnel they had been following split into three separate directions. _'This just couldn't get any worse...'_ The trail of blood they had been following was gone, along with the scent. They had lost Takahiko after all.

"Do you still smell him, yeah?"

Sakura shook her head.

"Okay, hn. Sakura you take the left tunnel, the wolves take the middle and I'll go right."

"No."

Deidara raised an eyebrow at her, than shook his head smiling.

"I'm giving the orders here Sakura-chan."

Sakura glared. "Don't call me that."

"Just go. Disobeying me will only put your wolves in more danger, yeah."

Sakura's anger was threatening to take over. Without a word she turned around and walked to her assigned path, but not without an apologetic glance to her wolves. As soon as she was gone Hyouga walked away, followed by Arashi. Bakura growled at Deidara before disappearing as well.

Deidara waited until he could no longer see them and dropped a small smoke bomb, erasing all of their scents, and disappeared into the last tunnel.

* * *

"The scent of four wolves, Sakura was definitely here!"

Everyone looked at Kiba who was inspecting the battleground where two shinobi had obviously fought not so long ago. Ino looked at him doubtfully.

"Are you sure this time?"

Kiba did nothing to mask his annoyance. Even Akamaru barked angrily.

"Yes, yes I am sure."

Naruto looked at the battle axe and then at the blood on the ground worriedly.

"That's not from Sakura-chan right?"

Kiba shook his head. "No. The blood is from her opponent."

Jiraiya looked at his team. None of them were used to working together, and still they managed to get this far. He began to believe they actually had a chance of finding at least one of the missing doujutsu users.

"Since neither of them is here I assume Sakura had to chase this person again after she injured him. Is there a scent we can follow Kiba?"

"Yes. But there's one thing." He paused and looked at Jiraiya. "Besides Sakura and her wolves there are two more scents here. So she may have been fighting two opponents or there is someone with her."

Three genin and one ninken looked at the legendary sannin. Jiraiya didn't look like he was surprised at all.

"It looks like we are dealing with an Akatsuki member. And after all the craters we've seen I believe I know who it is."

* * *

Sakura angrily walked ahead, thinking of ways to kill Deidara when she got the chance. If she were to think rationally she knew she would have made the same decision he made. But she _hated_ being separated from her wolves, considering where they were only intensified that feeling.

She was so caught up in her emotion she did not notice the wire in front of her feet until it was too late. Kunai shot out from the crevices in the walls. One kunai cut the side of her leg, waking her from her thoughts.

With quick reflexes she jumped out of harm's way and caught one kunai in mid-air, using it to deflect the kunai that were too hard to avoid. Skilfully she had managed to dodge all the other kunai.

When the wave of kunai was over she silently thanked Sasori-sama for training her. She picked up the kunai that had cut her leg and checked it for poison. There was none. After a quick examination of the cut just above her knee she concluded that, though it was quite deep and painful, she was lucky that it was her only injury considering she had let herself get so distracted. She left the wound unattended and focused on her surroundings instead, if there was one trap then there was bound to be more.

* * *

Bakura sniffed the ground in front of him.

"_There's a trap here too."_

Hyouga twitched his ears.

"_That's the fourth one so far."_

The seemingly endless tunnel the three wolves were assigned to was filled with traps. Fortunately they were experts at locating them. But it was going to take time to get anywhere while avoiding them.

"_You know what I think?" _

Hyouga and Bakura looked at Arashi expectantly.

"_With all the traps they must be hiding something really important at the end of this tunnel!"_

All three wolves stayed quiet for a moment, until Bakura barked humourlessly.

"_Or they just want to kill whatever uninvited guest wanders around here." _

Hyouga walked ahead of his fellow wolves.

"_Or maybe it's both."_

* * *

Deidara sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I should have chosen another tunnel, yeah."

Blocking his way was a huge green snake. It had woken up when he approached and was now hissing at him, ready to fight. It wasn't much of a problem of course. It was just a waste of clay. No one was here to appreciate his art.

He reached into his clay reserves and prepared to remove the obstacle.

Said obstacle watched his hand move to his clay pouch through its slitted eyes. It hissed and held its head high. It towered out above Deidara in a miserable attempt to intimidate the blond artist.

Deidara chuckled, unfazed by the creature and released a clay sparrow from his hand. The tiny bird flew at the snake, it wouldn't create a big explosion, but it would kill the snake without the entire cave collapsing on top of Deidara.

The snake hissed at the bird before viciously trapping it in between its jaws.

Deidara's eyes widened. Swiftly he jumped backwards while forming handsigns. He slammed his palms into the ground, causing a dome of rocks to form around him. The explosion was muffled by the walls surrounding him. He waited for a moment before dispelling his jutsu.

Just as he expected the snake's corpse was barely recognisable. Chunks of meat and blood lay scattered around the tunnel. There was nothing artistic about this. He shot a displeased glare at a part of the snake's skull, a lifeless slitted eye staring back at him.

"You weren't supposed to eat that, you stupid snake. Un."

* * *

Sakura walked into a spacious room with a high ceiling and pillars evenly spread out. It was only lit by candles, but after the dark tunnel it seemed as bright as sunlight. She didn't pick up any scents from inside and calmly walked into the room, intending to get to the door on the other side.

She stepped into the dim light.

Suddenly a fist connected with the back of her head, sending her down to the ground. Ignoring the pain and black blotches in her vision she swiftly rolled onto her back and feebly blocked another punch with her leg, her attacker delivered a swift kick to her stomach that had her gasping for air. While struggling to breathe she looked up.

"You?"

Takahiko had beads of sweat running down his face and the wound Deidara had given him was clumsily wrapped in bandages. He was breathing heavily, Sakura guessed he had used up too much energy already and that the blood loss was affecting him. Still he had a malicious grin on his face.

"I guess you've been separated from all your buddies."

Sakura pushed herself up of the ground, aiming to punch Takahiko's face. The man jumped backwards just in time. He was a lot slower than before. She could easily beat him in his weakened state, not to mention he was missing a hand.

"You should just hand me the scroll Akatsuki is looking for. You can't win a battle in this state, you can't use any jutsu and close-range battle is my strength."

He shook his head.

"You can't avoid conflict kunoichi. Only one of us will leave this room alive. Besides..." He reached his only hand into his shuriken holster, a dangerous look forming on his face. "Orochimaru-sama will give me the curse mark, his power! If I bring him you!"

Sakura dodged three shuriken thrown her way. Takahiko wasted no time and ran closer to her, aiming another punch at her face which she easily blocked. Sakura closed her eyes, when she opened them the getsugan was activated. She delivered a swift kick to her opponent's stomach causing him to stumble backwards.

Focusing her energy in one hand, she pulled her fist back and charged at Takahiko. A look of shock appeared on his face when her glowing fist was about to hit him before he disappeared.

Sakura gasped, he was still able to use a transportation jutsu! Her fist collided with the ground and shattered it. She sensed his presence again behind her. As she stood up and turned around she only managed to block the kunai in his hand just in time before it slashed her neck. With her other hand she reached into her kunai pouch and grabbed a kunai of her own.

Before she realised just what she was doing she dug her kunai into Takahiko's torso.

She stepped back a bit, surprised at her own actions. Takahiko collapsed, as he lay there on his side Sakura saw blood dripping out of his mouth. He was dying... her first kill as a shinobi. She shuddered a bit, it felt unreal yet she knew she would have to learn to get used to it.

"You are obviously not used to watching people die."

She couldn't allow herself to get distracted now. She had a mission.

Without a word she reached for his kunai pouch. There were two scrolls in there. With her getsugan still activated she picked up one of them.

"Is this the one we are looking for?"

"Yes."

Sakura narrowed her eyes in a glare and dropped the scroll on the cold ground. "I know you are lying." She held up the other scroll. "Is this one?"

"Yes."

He was lying again. Sakura was not happy with the way this was going.

"Do you still have it?"

"No."

He was telling the truth. Anger began to rise inside the young Ookamiza girl.

"Then tell me where it is!"

He smiled at her.

"You see the door over there? It leads to another tunnel, one with many rooms. One door will be open, he said he left the scroll there... with someone you would be delighted to see again."

Sakura's thoughts were racing through her head. Who did she know that could be here? And who was _he_?

"Who is 'he'?"

No answer. She pushed Takahiko with her foot, already prepared for what she saw. He rolled onto his back and empty eyes stared up at her. He was dead. The hitai ate around his neck caught her attention. From Sunagakure no Sato, like her father. But it had a slash through it, like hers.

Sakura took a deep breath and looked at the door. Hoping that she would not regret her decision she made her way towards it.

* * *

"What do you think Kiba?"

Jiraiya looked at the Inuzuka boy expectantly. They had found Orochimaru's lair, and after entering it they found three possible ways to Sakura and perhaps even Sasuke.

"Their scent is gone. Someone must have erased it."

Akamaru barked in agreement.

Jiraiya did not like the situation they were in, now a true Akatsuki member was involved Naruto was at great risk. If Tsunade knew she would have ordered them to return to the village immediately. But there was no turning back now, not when they were so close.

Ino looked worried.

"We have to split up? But that means two people have to go alone."

Naruto nodded. "I will go alone."

Jiraiya sighed. It couldn't be helped, stubborn kid didn't even care Akatsuki was out there.

"Fine, Ino and Kiba will go together. If you need my help..." Jiraiya bit his thumb and performed his summoning jutsu. "These guys will bring me to you."

Two small frogs appeared. Naruto grinned at them.

"Hey Gamatatsu, Gamakichi."

"Yo."

"Naruto... Do you have any candy?"

"They talk?" Ino shrieked.

Jiraiya ignored the female of the group. Silently he was hoping that he wouldn't regret separating the group.

"Gamakichi will go with Naruto and Gamatatsu will go with Ino and Kiba and Akamaru."

Gamakichi perched himself on Naruto's shoulder while Gamatatsu jumped on Akamaru's back. The dog growled lowly at the amphibian, but Gamatatsu was obvious to the threat. Naruto chose that moment to yell and punch his fist into the air.

"Yatta! Let's go!"

He ran off into one of the tunnels, his voice echoing in the seemingly endless maze. The rest of the group split up, taking the remaining two tunnels.

It didn't take long for Jiraiya to feel the weight of the situation come down on him. If there was indeed an Akatsuki in this building, he may have just made the biggest mistake in his entire life.

* * *

"_It's a kitchen!"_

Hyouga and Bakura looked at Arashi like he had grown a second head. They had reached the end of the hallway, but what they found was definitely not a kitchen. Bakura pointed this out dryly.

"_Did you see what's in those jars? Humans don't eat eyeballs, or dead snakes."_

They had reached a bizarre science laboratory. Countless jars were filled with a large variety of strange things, eye balls and dead snakes were maybe some of the less disturbing things. Bottles and vials filled with oddly coloured liquids filled an entire cupboard. In the middle of the room stood an iron table, chains attached to it, and the scent of blood still lingering on it. A collection of scalpels, scissors and syringes was spread out across it.

After sniffing the air the three wolves came to the same conclusion, someone had been here not so long ago and that someone could very well still be here inside the hideout. Bakura looked at the two other wolves.

"_Whoever was here I don't think we know this person."_

Hyouga nodded and looked around the room.

"_But he or she didn't come or leave the way we did."_

Arashi barked and began to sniff around madly.

"_Then we've got to find the secret passage."_

* * *

Sakura was extremely anxious. She had been brave enough to enter the door, but now she was in another tunnel that was completely dark, save from the light shining out of the only open door. The air was cold, so cold that her breath appeared in small clouds. The ominous air all around her made her want to run away. But Takahiko's words had invoked a curiosity that overpowered her fear.

With conflicting emotions she walked towards the light. The scents of the gruesome things that had taken place here were haunting her as she walked. Death, poison, blood, and so many other things, the smell alone told her so many stories, it brought goose bumps on her skin.

She was holding a kunai in her hand, the metal as cold as her skin. She had the feeling something would jump out from behind any of the closed doors she passed.

But that never happened and before she knew it she had reached the open door. She pushed aside all her fears and walked inside.

Her kunai fell to the ground, the clattering sound echoing throughout the room.

Time seemed to stop and tears blurred the sight before her. Sakura covered her mouth with her hand, horrified as she approached the metal table in the middle of the room. With a weak voice she managed to whisper.

"Harumi."

A pair of dark emerald eyes opened, the wolf-like strength that had always been there was dulled by years of pain. The blue haired girl who was chained to the metal table smiled weakly.

"Hey imouto."

* * *

The end of chapter 15.

Imouto: younger sister


End file.
